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GODFREY OKOYE UNIVERSITY
UGWUOMU NIKE, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA
Third Edition: Vol. 1, No. 3, 2023
Published by:
The Faculty of Natural Sciences and
Environmental Studies (FNSES)
Godfrey Okoye University
Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
THE NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF
NATURAL SCIENCES AND
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
© The Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies (FNSES)
Godfrey Okoye University Enugu, Nigeria
Editor-in-Chief:
Published by:
The Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies (FNSES)
Godfrey Okoye University Enugu, Nigeria
All rights reserved: No part of this Journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronics, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
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Printed by: Agape Progressive Enterprises Inc.
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Phone: 08065818580, 08130228608.
Email Address: godswillmadu@yahoo.com
Prof. Ndidiamaka M. Ozofor (Ph.D. wb)
Third Edition:
Vol. 1, No. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-2473-21-9
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
2
Prof. Ndidiamaka Ozofor (Ph.D, wb)
Dept of Computer Science and Mathematics, Godfrey Okoye University/ Enugu, Nigeria
Prof. Chidi C. Uhuegbu
School of Postgraduate Studies, Godfrey Okoye University Enugu, Nigeria
Prof. (Mrs.) V. O. George-Okafor
Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria
Emeritus Prof. Nduka Okafor, FAS, OON
Dept of Microbiology, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria
Prof. Benjamin Mariere
Dept of Biotechnology, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD:
Prof. Chidi C. Uhuegbu
Dean Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies (FNSES)
Godfrey Okoye University Enugu, Nigeria
Prof. John O. Anene, Jr,
Ohio State University, U.S.A.
Prof. Josephine I. Okafor
Dept of Michrobiology, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria
Prof. Osita I. Chiaghanam
Dept of Geology, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University, Uli-Ihiala, Nigeria
Prof. I. P. Orajaka
Dept of Geological Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
FACULTY JOURNAL COMMITTEE
Prof. M. N. Unachukwu, Ph.D
Prof. Ndidiamaka Ozofor (Ph.D, wb)
Dr Kingsley M. Okorie
Dr Kenneth Obiudu
Dr Joshua Agbogun
Dr Chiagozie Ejikeme
Dr Uchenna Okebanama
Mr Ambrose Eze
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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EDITORIAL BOARD:
AIMS AND SCOPE;
The Nigerian Journal of aims
to provide a veritable platform for scholarly contributions from academics/ scholars,
advanced students^ institutions, organisations and other stakeholders in the Natural
Sciences and Environmental Studies (FNSES). Papers are welcome from
contributors in all aspects of the related-disciplines. Submission of ,a manuscript will be
held to imply that the work is original, has not been published previously and is not
under consideration for publication anywhere. The language of the paper and all
communication with the journal must be English, consistent with the Oxford English
Dictionary.
INSTRUCTIONS To AUTHORS
Authors should submit their manuscripts containing title of paper and author(s)
name(s) (Surname, middle and last, but without titles or ranks), institutional affiliation,
the Abstract and the full paper which should not be more than 10 pages inclusive of
figures, tables, appendices and references). Abstracts should not be more than 200
words and not more than 6 key words. The abstract page should contain email address
and contact of correspondence author. The full paper should therefore include: Abstract
page, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion,
Acknowledgements and References.
Referencing should be done using the APA 2016 referencing style. Papers should be
submitted as MS Word document type with Times New Roman 12, single spacing. All
soft copies should be submitted at; emmaikejiaku@yahoo.com, or directly to the
Office of the Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
(FNSES), Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria. After acceptance of the paper,
the author will be notified, and will be expected to pay editorial review and publication
fees. Authors will receive a copy of the issue in which their papers appear, and 5 (five)
off-prints of their papers.
• Editorial Review Fee (on initial submission of paper) N5,000
• Publication Fee N50,000
Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies (FNSES)
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
4
Enquiries:
All enquiries regarding the journal should be addressed to the Editor-in-chief
at:(08035601669) ozofondid@gmail.com & emma.adinna@gmail.com
(2348033332689).
.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
5
From Editorial Desk
The language of a higher Education enterprise is "publish or perish". One either
publish books, journal articles, bulletins or chapter in books or you perish by
becoming inactive, stagnant or non-productive, at most a zero educated person
(person without value). Therefore, this premise I thank you for contributing
articles to our journal of Natural Science and Environmental Studies. We thank
our Dean Prof. Dr. Chidi Uhuegbu for allowing the publication and giving a
huge grant to ensure the publication at this hard period in Nigeria economic
history. We are grateful to the professors of the faculty both the regular and
those on parttime. Mention must be made of few of them for their impacting
advises: Prof. Emma Adinna (Ph.D), Prof. Mrs. Josephine Okafor (Ph.D), Prof.
Mrs. Miriam Unachukwu (Ph.D), Prof. Mrs. Christie Oyeka (Emeritus Prof.),
Prof. Emeritus Nduka Okafor (Ph.D), Prof. Chukwuali and a host of others. We
also thank the HODs: Architecture Dr. C. Chukwu; Biological Sciences, Dr.
P.N. Olisaka; Chemical Sciences, Dr. Mrs. Anosike; Computer
Science/Mathematics, Dr. F. Okebalama; Dr. L. Onuora and others for their
support.
Thanks. Soi Dei Gloria (To God Be All Glory)
Prof. Dr. Ndidi M. Ozofor
Editor-In-Chief
List of Contributors
Ozofor N.M. and Abugu C.: Department of Computer Science/Mathematic Godfrey
Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Uka, Godwin Ogbu & Chukwu, Chimachetam: Dept. of Architecture Godfrey
Okoye University, Enugu, godwinuka@gmail.edu.ng 08162175492; echeletic@gmail.com
Dr. Godwin O. Uka & Chukwu, Chimaechetam: Dept. of Architecture Godfrey
Okoye University, Enugu,Nigeria. godwinuka @gouni.edu.ng
08162175492/echeletic@gmail.com
a b c c
Njokunwogbu, A.N , Ugwuonah, L. A. , Ilo Uchenna Scholastica , Ene Felicitas Chinecherem .
a. Bioinorganic and Natural Product Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department,
Godfrey Okoye University P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers' Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
b. Medicinal Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University,
P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers' Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
c. Industrial Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University,
P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers' Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
Correspondents: njokuambrose@yahoo.com,njokunwogbuambrose@gouni.edu.ng
08087279911
Okoye, B. S. A.
Department of Architecture, Godfrey Okoye University Enugu.
bsaokoye@gouni.edu.ng
Ilo U.S. ", Ogbuchi Miriam C.". Njokunwogbu A, N.". Ugwuonah L. A.
a. Industrial Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University, P.M.B
01014, Thinkers Corner, Nigeria.
b. Bioinorganic and Natural Product Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey
Okoye University, PMB 01014, Thinkers Corner, Enugu, Nigeria.
c. Medicinal Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University,
P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers Corner, Enugu, Nigeria.
Correspondents: iuchenna41@gmail.com. 03037720915
1 2 3 4
Amaku Amaku , Olumide Owolabi , Agbogun B. Joshua , Bamidele, Oluchi Jennie
1 Department of Computer Science, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State, Nigeria.
2 Department of Computer Sciences, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.
3 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu
State, Nigeria.
4 Computer Science Programme, National Mathematical Centre, Kwali, Abuja.
– amaku@gouni.edu.ng
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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List of Contributors Continue
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
1a 1 2 3
Eugene L.Ayuk , Precious C.Omeoga , Timothy O.Oni , & Peace I. Ebiem- Kenechukwu
1 &1
Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies,
Godfrey Okoye University, P.M.B. 01014 Thinkers Corner Enugu, Nigeria
2
Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-uku, Nigeria
3
Projects Development Institute (PRODA) Enugu
Corresponding Authors: Eugene L. Ayuk Email:eugeneayuk@yahoo.com
a b b a h
Olisaka, F.N , Nkwocha, P. N , Eze, C and Okoli, C
a
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies, Department of Biological
Sciences. Godfrey Okoye University, P. M.B 01014, Thinkers Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
frances@gouni-edu.ng
b
Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences. Benson Idahosa University
Cafeteria, Okha Campus, Benin City.
7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
And Technology Teaching Hospital Parklane
Ozofor N.M. & Abugu C.
2. Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
Uka, Godwin Ogbu & Chukwu, Chimachetam.................................................21
3. Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
Dr. Godwin O. Uka & Chukwu, Chimaechetam........................................................31
4. Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic Acid Content Of Ficus
a b c
Capensis Fruits By Njokunwogbu, A.N , Ugwuonah, L. A. , Ilo Uchenna Scholastica ,
c
Ene Felicitas Chinecherem ...................................................................................................39
5. An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In Housing
Development Corporation Estates In Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria
Okoye, B. S. A...................................................................................................................49
6. Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of Carica Papaya,
Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
Ilo U.s. ", Ogbuchi Miriam C.". Njokunwogbu A, N.". Ugwuonah L. A....................61
7. Random Forest Hyperparameter Tuning In Machine Learning For Improved
1 2
Performance In Intrusion Detection Systems By Amaku Amaku , Olumide Owolabi ,
3
Agbogun B. Joshua , Bamidele, Oluchi Jennie4..............................................................73
8. Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticles Using Gongronema Latifolium Aqueous
1 1 2
Eugene L.Ayuk , Precious C.Omeoga , Timothy O.Oni , & Peace I. Ebiem-
3
Kenechukwu ....................................................................................................................96
9 Biofilm Forming Ability And The Presence Of Icad Gene In Bacteria Isolated From
Bathing Towels Of Students Of A Private Tertiary Institution.
a b b a h
By Olisaka, F.N , Nkwocha, P. N , Eze, C and Okoli, C ...........................................109
Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University Of Science
Edmund A..............................................................................9
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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TREND AND SEASONAL VARIATION OF INFANT MORTALITY IN
ENUGU STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
TEACHING HOSPITAL PARK LANE, ENUGU
BY
Ozofor N.M1. & Abugu C2.
Godfrey Okoye University Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
ozoforndidiamaka@gouni.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
This study examines the trend and seasonal variation of infant mortality death rate at Enugu State
university of Science Technology Teaching Hospital Parklane Enugu from 2010-2020. IBM SPSS
Statistics 22 and Microsoft Exel 2010 analytical packages were used for the calculations and
analysis of the annual trend and seasonal indices. The Moving Average was used in computing the
seasonal trend, the Regression Model was selected with a view of showing an understanding to the
appropriate method to be used for the Trend and thus the forecasts. The Annual Infant Mortality rate
shows that 2019 recorded the highest infant mortality rate, and 2011 and 2015 recorded the lowest
infant mortality rate. And thus, from the forecast, the second Quarter could produce the highest
mortality rate for the year 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Background of the Study
Infant Mortality has been one of the world's most health challenges. Though, one of the Millennium
Development Goals, this challenge has not yet been adequately addressed among the
underdeveloped and developing countries like Nigeria.
According to World Health Organization (WHO, 2011), Infant mortality is the death of a child
within the first year of life while the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD, 2001) Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths under one year of age occurring among
the live births in a given geographical area during a given year per 1,000 live births occurring
among the population of the given geographical area during the same year.
According to Madiseet(2001), Infant mortality has long been identified as an important tool for
evaluating a population's health and healthcare system and a barometer for measuring a county's
well-being and the state of health and health facilities. The realization of the importance of infant
mortality and the need to reduce its occurrence has led to the fight against mortality in infants both at
the national and international levels.
Highlighted as an area of public health concern in society, the fight against infant mortality led to
the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. According to Sachs
and Mc Arthur, (2005) The fourth MDG in particular, addresses the issue of reducing mortality
worldwide by up to two-thirds in 2015. This global fight against the deaths of children within the
first year of their lives which has been on for a few decades saw most European countries make
significant progress between 1990 and 2015 sufficient enough to meet the childhood mortality
reduction target set in the fourth tenet of the MDG. However, the majority of the countries in Asia
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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and Africa (Nigeria inclusive) failed to meet the recommended target for the reduction of childhood
mortality and as a result, the Sustainable Development Goal was rolled out.
It is believed that year, thousands of children are born in this country and thousands of these
children die from diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles,
and childhood tuberculosis. This is stated in a pamphlet on the Expanded Program on
Immunization (EPI) published by the Federal Epidemiological unit, Federal Ministry of Health,
Lagos, 2017.
According to Adetoro and Amoo, (2014) In Nigeria, the infant mortality rate still remains
th
unacceptably high despite modest improvement in child health outcomes during the 20 century by
the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2017).
The current infant mortality rate in Nigeria is estimated at 70 per 1000 live births implying that 1 in
15 live births in Nigeria dies before their first birthday. These rates remain high in comparison to the
proposed target set by the United Nations as contained in the SDG 3.2 objective.
Childhood mortality in general and infant mortality, in particular, has long been a public health
menace in Nigeria. Identified as one of the barometers for the measurement of any population's
state of health, health facilities, and well-being, relevant authorities in government and
stakeholders in public health have all moved to reduce and possibly eliminate its occurrence with
little success.
Statement of the Problem
This study is drawn from the realization that knowledge of reliable and accurate forecasts of infant
mortality rate is both necessary and important for planning suitable intervention programs and
preventive measures for the reduction of infant mortality in Nigeria.
Objective of the study
Ø To study the trend of infant mortality rate in St. Patrick hospital and Maternity Enugu State.
Ø To study the seasonal indices and therefore ascertain the month with the highest and lowest
infant death.
Ø To forecast the trend for 2022, if there will be an increase in the number of infant mortalities.
Significance of the Study
This study shows the trend and seasonal variation of infant mortality rate in St. Patrick hospital
and Maternity Enugu State.
Ø Findings from the study will contribute to fellow researchers in the field of statistics, health, etc
Ø This is also important to the Government in decision-making in the fight against infant
mortality.
Ø This study will also benefit conference/workshop and paper presenters. They will use it as
Journal articles etc.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
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Ø The study is also a requirement for the researcher to be awarded the BSc in Statistics.
Limitations/Constraints of the study
Due to finance and time factors the study is limited to the use of time series analysis and data used
was sourced and collected from St. Patrick Hospital and Maternity, Enugu State.
Delimitation/Scope of the Study.
This research covers a period of 10 years (2010 – 2021) of monthly infant mortality rate in St.
Patrick Hospital and Maternity, Enugu, and is restricted to the records of St. Patrick Hospital and
Maternity, Enugu State.
Definition of Special Terms
Trend: A general direction in which a situation changes or develops with time.
Seasonal Index: A measure of how a particular season through the same cycle compares with the
average season of the cycle.
Mortality: (death rate) the number of deaths that occur at a specific time, in a specific group, or
from a specific cause.
Infant: A child under the age of 1 year, specifically a newborn baby.
MDG: Millennium Development Goal.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical frameworks used in this study are time series analysis. Time series analysis is a
specific way of analyzing a sequence of data points collected over an interval of time. This type of
analysis is a statistical method of analyzing data from repeated observations on a single unit or
individual at regular intervals over a large number of observations.
Mathematically, A time series is defined by a value y, y, y… of a variable at a time t, t, t… thus y is a
function of t, symbolized by
y = f(t).
Study Area
This paper is focused on Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Parklane, Enugu. This hospital
serves the inhabitants of Enugu State Nigeria, Enugu metamorphosed from the then Nursing Home
established in 1930 for the colonial masters to a first-class hospital for government officials and
elites in the society in 1952.
During the Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970, it was. renovated to a general hospital and used
extensively to treat the wounded.
Gradual and progressive expansion led to the establishment of surgical, maternity, Theatre, and
Pediatric facilities in 1985. it was then approved for the training of house officers. It became a
specialist hospital in November 2005 and teaching in May 2006.
Current Literature Review
In understanding the importance of infant mortality in terms of their impact on the population, it is
unbelievable that detailed information about death throughout the world has not been available
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
until recently, hence from the literature available, there have been some studies on similar topics.
Research conducted by Rusen (1984) on death and birth, discovered that having a birth interval
longer than two years has a significant beneficial influence on the health of infants and mothers
alike and that infant mortality at its peak is among children born very shortly and at the end of their
mother's last pregnancy.
Also, Anaeto (1984) of the department of psychology, university of Calabar on similar topics on
maternity Case analysis of Death and birth in the university of Calabar, Teaching Hospital, reached
that the ratio of maternity care to death is 206 to 1. She established the presence of a trend and
cyclical and irregular variables in her data that has no seasonal movement.
Raphael (2000) carried out a similar work but on a different larger population. In his study on births
in a general hospital in Enugu, he reported the existence of a downward trend, cyclical and irregular
components but no seasonal movement and concluded that the reported birth in general hospital
was gradually decreasing between (1992-1999).
Macxim (2002) conducted a statistical analysis on childbirth at the University Teaching Hospital
Aba and conclude that there was a downward trend in his forecasting and the absence of seasonal
variation. In his summary, there is a gradual fall in childbirth between (1999-2000).
Jinadu et al. (1991) stressed that several diseases causing child mortality have a relationship with
hygiene conditions and the healthiness of the environment these are not limited to dirty feeding
bottles, utensils, inadequate disposal of household refuse, and poor storage water, to mention but
few. The author attributed poor hygiene as a factor that impacts child mortality.
Kravdal (2004) stated that apart from the effect of maternal education on child mortality in India,
the community level of education which represents the average educational level of women in an
enumeration area also has a strong association with infant mortality. The author emphasized the
impact of maternal education on child mortality in India and this is applicable to Nigeria. It is
assumed that mothers who are educated practice healthy sanitation living which helps in reducing
the rate of infant mortality. Applying a multilevel discrete-time hazard model in estimating the data,
it was found that the average education of women in a census enumeration area has a strong impact
on infant mortality.
Gayus (2006) opined that the speed of mortality decline will not slow down, relative to past
performance. He added that demographers who tend to forecast linear increase in life expectancy
tends to predict faster gains because they rely solely on international trends to determine the
forecast. However, demographers studying healthy sub-populations argued that fairly large
advances in life expectancy are achievable through modifications in the forecast behavior
(Akinwande and Ibrahim, 2016). It was revealed that the quality of care given during and after the
birth of an infant is primary, especially with insufficient Government investment in public
healthcare. Also, some authors expressed dismay over findings that the majority of the births do
occur in unorthodox facilities and babies only get to the hospital after irreparable damage may have
occurred.
In addition, the review identified the need for improving the counting of stillbirths and neonatal
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
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deaths as an important factor in tracking Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 and improving vital
statistics in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is because some authors noted
that the validity of self-reported stillbirths and neonatal deaths in surveys is often threatened by
misclassification errors between the two birth outcomes. Hence, the need for the present study to fill
the gap as observed in the literature review.
Sources of Data
There are two statistical sources of data; namely the primary source and the secondary source. The
data used for this study are the mortality data for infants in the Hospital between 2010 and 2021
Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Parklane, Enugu, presented in Table 1.
Infant mortality data were collected from the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Parklane,
Enugu.
Method of Data Collection
The method of data collection used for this study is a secondary method of data collection from the
department of statistical records Enugu State University Teaching Hospital Parklane, Enugu.
Method of Data Presentation and Analysis
In this study, time series were employed in analyzing and interpreting the data; showing the trend
and the seasonal variation.
The research in this study made use of time series analysis. Time series is a set of observations taken
at different periods especially equal time intervals the periods can be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly,
etc.
An example of time series is the number of students admitted to a particular school every year, the
yearly production of steel, monthly rainfall, stock exchange indices, etc.
Mathematical a Time series is defined by a value Y, Y, Y… of a variable at a time t, t, t… thus Y is a
function of t, symbolized by Y = F(t). The analysis of time series can be carried out by adopting
either The Multiplicative model: Y=T*S*C*I OR
The Additive model: Y=T+S+C+I (1)
Where Y is the value of the valuable at a particular time.
T, S, C, and I are the components
Characteristics of Time Series
Secular Movement or Trend (T): This refers to the upward and downward movement that
characterizes a time series over some time. It is the general direction in which the graph is moving
over a long period. This is the long-term. Thus, the trend reflects the long-term growth or decline in
the time series.
Cyclical Movement or Variation (C): This refers to the oscillatory movement in a time series with
a period of oscillation of more than one year.
Seasonal Movement or Variation (S): This refers to the identical or almost identical pattern that a
time series appears to follow during corresponding months of successive years. Such movements
are due to recurring events that take place annually.
Irregular Movement or Random variations (I): This refers to the sporadic motions of time series
due to pure chance events. In some cases, the importance of an irregular fluctuation may not be
significant while in others, they may be very effective and may give rise to cyclic movements.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
Using the traditional or classical approach to multiplication relationships among various
components the composite series can be symbolized by the following express
Y = Tt. St. Ct. Rt (2)
t
Where T = The trend component
t
S = The seasonal fluctuation
t
C = The cyclic fluctuation
t
R = The random fluctuation
t
t = The time index.
Linear regression analysis was applied to determine the trend of the infant mortality rate.
Linear regression analysis is one of the simplest methods of determining trends of an incidence
in time series.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Parkl Lane, Enugu
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
Fig. 1: Annual Infant Mortality 2010-2020.
From Fig. 1 above, it is clear that 2019 recorded the highest infant mortality, and 2011 and 2015
recorded the lowest infant mortality rate.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
Fig. 2 Time Series Plot of Mortality Showing the Quarterly Forecast
Data Interpretation
The linear trend equation is
Infant mortality = 10.14+0.13 time
Where Y is the dependent or respond variable. t is the time in the years, varies from (2010, 2011,
2012, ...2020)
2
And the coefficient of determination R = 0.11
In this study from the figure 1, the graph gave us an uptrend movements Which implies that the
number of infant mortality rate has been increasing over the decade. The forecast also shows a
continuous increase.
Summary of Findings
The value of the R-square of 0.11 shows 11 percent of the dependent variable while the remaining
48 percent was the error term.
The value of the adjusted R-square of 0.0895 shows that the graph of the dependent variable and the
independent variables will have a goodness of fit: of 8.95 percent.
From the year 2015 to 2019, infant mortality rate experienced a linear increase with its highest peak
in 2019. This shows that the year 2019 recorded the highest number of infant death while 2011 and
2015 recorded the lowest.
The 4t quarters of the year 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 (as forecasted) should, record the lowest
number of infant mortality rate while the 2nd quarters the highest infant mortality death.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
Conclusion
2
From this study R = 0.11. This implies that the coefficient of determination obtained indicates a bad
fit. And thus, from the forecast, the second Quarter could produce the highest mortality rate for the
year 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. This study is based on the result of the data analyzed.
Therefore, I concluded that there will be a continuous increase in infant deaths.
Recommendation
The researcher advises that a higher model is used like quadratic linear model, cubic or parabolic
model in other to improve the coefficient of determination.
References
Adetoro, GW and Amoo, E.Q. (2014). A Statistical Analysis of Child Mortality: Evidence from
Nigeria. Journal of Demography and Social Statistics, Department of Demography and
Social Statistics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Nigeria. 1:110-120.
Dickey, DA. and Fuller, WA. (1979). Distribution of the Estimators for Autoregressive Time Series
with a Unit Root. Journal of the American Statistical Association.
Madise, N., Magadi, M and Diamond, I. (2001). Factors Associated with Unfavourable Birth
Outcomes in Kenya. Journal of Biosocial Science.
MDG Report. (2015). Nigeria Millennium Development Goals. www.mdgs.gov.ng.
National Bureau of Statistics- NBS and United Nations Children 's Fund- UNICEF (2017). Multiple
Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 20 16-17, Survey Findings Report. Abuja, Nigeria.
National Bureau of Statistics and United Nations Children's Fund.
Usman, A., Sulaiman, MA. and Abubakar, I. (2019). Trends of Neonatal Mortality in Nigeria from
1990 to 2017 using Time Series Analysis. J. Appl. Sci. Environ.
World Health Organization- WHO. (2011). Child Mortality Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) 4. The Partner for Maternal and New Born Birth.
World health organization 2011 http://www. WHO.
int/pmnch/media/pressmaterials/fs/fsmdg4_childmortality/en/.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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Trend And Seasonal Variation Of Infant Mortality In Enugu State University
Of Science And Technology Teaching Hospital Park Lane, Enugu
APPRECIATING AND VALUING DIVERSITY IN TEACHING
VISUAL ARTS: GOALS AND METHODS
Key words: Teaching visual Arts, valuing diversity and
appreciation, goals and methods
By
Uka, Godwin Ogbu & Chukwu, Chimachetam
Department of Architecture, Godfrey Okoye University Enugu.
INTRODUCTION
The value of diversity and differences
in the visual arts practice, research and
education can best be experienced and
appreciated by a clear understanding of
what the visual art means. "Visual arts"
is a broad category of art which
includes a number of artistic disciplines
from various sub-categories. The
definition of visual art usually
encompasses the following: all aspects
of fine and applied arts, which include
activities, such as drawing, painting,
and sculpture. Others are graphics art,
ceramics, fashion, textile, glass design,
with associated activities like
m a n u s c r i p t i l l u s t r a t i o n , bo o k
illustration, calligraphy, printmaking
and architecture. It also includes a
number of modern art forms and
expression: Assemblage, collage,
m i x e d - m e d i a , c o n c e p t u a l a r t,
installation, happenings, performances
and film art including associated
disciplines such as photography, video
arts and animation or any combination
thereof. These groups of activities also
include high tech discipline, others like
computer graphics and so on. Other
modern visual arts, new environmental
or experimental graphics or land art
which includes transitory forms
likeice/snow sculpture and presumably
graffiti art.
The visual art also encompasses a
number of decorative art discipline and
crafts: ceramics and studies in pottery,
mosaic art, mobiles, tapestry, and glass
art (including stained glass. Wider
definition of visual art sometime
includes applied art area such as
graphics design, textile, fashion design,
glass design, industrial design and
interior design new type of body art.
These include tattoo art, face and body
painting
It is necessary, pertinent to consider the
value of diversity and differences in
visual art practice and research because
of its role in education in general. Many
adults and others have not had the
opportunity (or the desire) to explore
the world of art in any systematic way.
As a consequence, their reactions to
visual art exist at a very basic level; "I
like it or I don't like it" being the
principle reaction to works of art, where
ever encountered. One need only
review the following questions to gain
some insight into the complexity of the
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
21
world of art. Being able to provide
reasonable answers to these questions
would demonstrate one's ability to
understand and appreciate art, at least at
a very fundamental level. In order to
understand art it is necessary to nurture
an appreciation for the varied functions
and values of art; to demonstrate that
the visual arts are extraordinary
phenomena, and that they are essential
to our well being, individually religious
and as a society.
What is visual art?
Visual art is about creating and making
the general aesthetics of a work, and to
create aesthetics style of any art or any
related work of art. It is important to
work with fundamental elements of art
and design, arranging them according
to the principles. These elements and
principles together form the building
blocks of art and design and a firm
understanding of them is crucial in
creating visual design/art of any
product. These elements are the main
media through which designer and
artist translate images and ideas into
concrete terms. In man's visual
c o m m u n i c a t i o n e x p e r i e n c i n g
everything large and small, natural or
man-made can be describe in terms of
these elements.
Visual art are constructed from very
basic elements or components that we
experience through our sense of sight
and/or touch; namely, lines, two and/or
three dimensional shapes, textures,
colors, dark and light qualities, and
actual or implied space. For any analysis
and criticism of any work of art, the
following should be considered or look
into:
lS h o u l d n a t u r a l o b j e c t s b e
considered as works of art?
lIs art anything we want it to be, or
does the term "art" refer to objects
that have special characteristics?
lWhat conditions need to exist before
we are willing to classify something
as art? An understanding of the
above questions will help towards
understanding what art is all about.
Diversity in Art teaching
Fine and applied arts learning is an
integral part of the society we live in. Art
is part of the cultural heritage of every
nation. It is what makes us most human,
and complete as people. The arts cannot
be learned through occasional or
random exposure any more than math or
science can. Education and engagement
in fine arts are an essential part of the
school curriculum and an important
component of the educational program
of every student. Education in the arts is
an integral part of the development of
each human being.
In any educational system it is very
important that there is a wide array of
diverse group of people in the
classroom, this is so because it creates a
realistic setting and also encourages
students to grow outside their
boundaries and learn something new
about a culture, and any other subject
they may not be familiar with. In any
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
fine arts class diverse group of students
exists, it is important to recognize the
fact that all students are unique in their
own way in terms of creativity and
innovation. Their differences could
consist of their reading level, physical
a b i l i t y, c u l t u r a l b a c k g r o u n d ,
personality, religious beliefs, and
others. There has always been diversity
in any setting especially in art studio or
classroom environment, it is important
to embrace it and make positive use of
it.
The authorities should value diversity
and the need to model this attitude to
their students need is important. The
values of diversity in fine arts need to be
recognize and people should respect the
fact that students are different and that
these differences is generally a good
thing. For example, when attempting to
solve a problem, it is better to bring
together a diverse team with many
skills and many different ways of
approaching the problem than it is to
bring together a team that has all their
strength concentrated in one area.
Sufficient data exists to overwhelming
support the belief that study and
participation in fine and applied arts is a
key component in improving learning
throughout all academic areas.
Evidence of its effectiveness is in
reducing students dropout, raising
students attendance, developing other
team players, a love for learning,
improving greater student dignity,
enhancing students creativity, and
producing a more prepared individual
for the workplace for tomorrow has
been documented in studies. The fine
arts also provide learners with non-
academic benefits such as promoting
self-esteem, motivation, aesthetics
awa r e n e s s , cultu r a l e x posure ,
cre a t i v ity, im p r o v e emo t i o n al
expression, as well as social harmony
and appreciation of diversity.
The following are findings reported on
art related research: The Impact of the
Arts on Learning (Fiske, 1999) that
should be noted by every parent,
teacher, and administrator. The arts
reach students not normally reached, in
ways and methods not normally used.
This leads to better student attendance
and lower dropout rates.) It changes the
learning environment to one of
discovery. This often re-ignites the love
of learning in students tired of just being
fed facts.
Students connect with each other better.
When this is done well, it often results in
fewer fights, greater understanding of
diversity and greater peer support in any
leaning setting. The arts provide
challenges to students of all levels. Each
student can find his/her own level from
basic to gift. Students learn to become
sustained, self-directed learners.
Is the study of Fine Arts important?
The study of f and applied arts is so
important because of the benefits
associated with it. They engage many
areas of the brain and also have far-
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
reaching effects on the learner's mind
(Jensen.2001). The arts promote the
understanding and sharing of culture.
They promote social skills that enhance
the awareness and respect of others.
The fine arts enhance perceptual and
cognitive skills. The Burton study of
more than 2000 children found that
those in the arts curriculum were far
superior in creative thinking, self-
concept, problem-solving, self-
e x p r e s s i o n , r i s k - t a k i n g , a n d
cooperation than those who were not
(Burton et al., 1999). The arts have the
capacity to engage everyone. Today's
world is witness to the Information Age.
The primary sources of content
information are no longer teacher
lectures or textbooks canted. Learning
is not limited to what you know, but is
depend e n t u p o n h o w to fi n d
information and how to use that
information quickly, creatively, and
cooperatively. "We are in the twilight of
a society based on data. As information
and intelligence becomes the domain of
computers, society will place a new
value on the one human ability that can't
be automated: emotion (Jensen. 1999,
p. 84)."
An effective education in the fine arts
helps students to see what they look at,
hear what they listen to, and feel what
they touch. Engagement in the fine arts
helps students to stretch their minds
beyond the boundaries of the printed
text or the rules of what is provable. The
arts free the mind from rigid certainty.
Imagine the benefits of seeking,
finding, and developing multiple
solutions to the myriad of problems
facing our society today! These
processes, taught through the study of
the arts, help to develop the tolerance for
coping with the ambiguities and
uncertainties present in the everyday
affairs of human existence. There is a
universal need for words, music, dance,
and visual art to give expression to the
i n n a t e urg i n g s of t h e h u m a n
spirit.(Eisner, 1987) The premier
organizations in the corporate world
today recognize that the human intellect
"draws from many walls." Arts
education gives access to the deepest of
those walls.
Creativity and innovation
The act of creativity can be seen as that
which provides the urge for continuing
exploration and discovery. Creativity is
being more closely related to the
thinking abilities and to the attitudinal
development. It is a continual process
for which the best preparation involves
creativity itself..
Every child is born creative. The urge to
explore, investigate, discover, what is
on the other side of the screen is not
limited to human behavior, but is
experienced by the whole animal
kingdom,(Lower field and Brittian
1975). One of the most commonly
agreed upon components of creative
thinking is the ability to produce a large
number of ideas. In general sense the
idea of creativity means different things
to different people of the world.
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
Creativity exists everywhere in
people's life. It can be found in
designing and packaging, processing
and production, fabric and fashion, sign
and architectural design, applied
science and technology, visual arts,
theatre, music, film (video production)
and a host of other activities. Creativity
in the modern dispensation is used as a
powerful tool to attract attention to a
nation or country powerful endowment.
Creativity can be meaningful to
individual, if it is ideologically and
culturally inclined. Runco (1994)
opines that creativity is in terms of
cognitive processes that lead to an
original and adaptive insight, idea or
solution. Thus, creativity is the most
essential of all human resources and
skills (Bolaji 2007). Akinboye (2004)
sees creativity as a tool that propels
organizations, catapults careers, and
generate potent growth and viable
outcomes.
Creativity is at the heart of art and
design, at all stages throughout the
design process. The most exciting and
challenging design is that which is truly
innovative; the creation of a radical
departure from anything currently on
the market (Baxter, 1995). The more
people try to define creativity by
identifying with specific sets of values,
meanings, beliefs, and symbols, the
more our creativity will be focusing on
how values, meanings, beliefs and
symbols are formed, the greater the
chance that our creativity will become
less restricted (Bolaji 2007).
One major way to spark creativity is
through exploration, exploring exposes
one to new things. New things are
inspiring, while exploring one might
stumble across a new way of doing
something, a new thing to do, or
something more subtle. Sometimes one
uncover a bit of information that clicks
with things he has been thinking about
and completes (or helps to complete)
the picture he has been developing in his
mind. Other times one may discover a
tool, a process or an approach that
others are using which is unrelated but
still inspiring in its ingenuity. In
general, exploration can fuel ones
creativity.
Creativity is a term that is often used
indiscriminately. Distinctions are not
made between "making." "producing"
or "creating" works of art. Students are
expected to create such works
whenever they are engaged in art
activities. "Creative self-expression" is
a very common phrase in art education
discourse. It implies that when students
are expressing reactions to their own
experiences they are being creative ...
even though what they produce may be
very similar to what they have produced
before or to what their peers "create".
In addition, it is often believed that
students' abilities to create art are
dependent on inherited traits, which are
not easily altered by classroom
experiences. Because of these
assumptions, the nature of creative
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
b e h a v i o r i s n o t s u ff i c i e n t l y
differentiated, and there are seldom any
specific efforts made to develop
particular creative skills. Articulating
the skills associated with the
production of art includes clarifying the
aspects of creative behavior that are
agreeable to change in the art class. For
example, "fluency" and "flexibility" are
traits that are associated with creative
behavior. In order to insure that these
traits are nurtured, art activities must
require students to generate a variety of
responses (fluency) and/or easily alter
their works (flexibility) to increase
their expressive impact.
It must be remembered, however, that
the extent to which students will be
successful and creative (producing art
that is both worthy as art and
innovative) will depend on the student
having acquired an adequate range of
t h e t e c h n i c a l , o b s e r v a t i o n a l ,
representational and interpretative
skills that are essential to the
production of art.
What can teachers do to encourage,
value, and promote diversity?
Fine arts practice requires students be
provided with an environment that is
conducive to learning both theoretical
and practical skills. The society people
find themselves is more diverse, it is
important that students learn to value
and use diversity to the greater good. In
any setting valuing diversity should be
a thing of concern to all in order to
create an environment where each
student feels valued and respected. In
order to value diversity, it is necessary:
.
lTake time to learn about students'
background, interests, and learning
style.
u This will allow create an
environment that is conducive to each
individual student.
lAllow time for the students to learn
about each other and gain an
appreciation for the diversity they
bring to the classroom.
u Students should be reminded how
boring it would be if all alike and there
were no difference
u Students should be aware that
e v e r y o n e h a s s t r e n g t h s a n d
weaknesses. When working as a team
students should be encouraged to take
advantage of the strength of the team
members in order to produce the best
possible results.
lBring in different people to the class
as resources that students might be
able to connect with.
u Search out people that are different
from each other and that might share
certain qualities with other students.
u Students need role models. Many
times when they see they are connected
in some way to a person they will be
more apt to listen and learn from them.
lNever tolerate bullying, teasing, and
other put-down behavior at any time in
the classroom/studio.
uImplement a "zero tolerance" for
anything that is disrespectful, hurtful,
or intolerant of diversity.
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
The idea of diversity encompasses
recognition and respect. It means
understanding that each individual is
unique, and recognizing their
individual differences. These can be
along the dimensions of race, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, socio-
economic status, age, physical abilities,
religious beliefs, political beliefs, or
other ideologies. It is the discovery of
these differences in a safe, positive, and
nurturing environment that matters in
any art studio and classroom
environment. This is all about
understanding each other and moving
beyond simple tolerance to embracing
and celebrating the rich scope of
diversity contained within each
individual.
Research is a highly valued activity in
that being engaged in legitimate fine art
making task implies that one is also
engaged in a worthwhile research
activities. The value of diversity
therefore is the exploration of these
differences in a safe, positive, and
nurturing environment.
Enhancing our capacity to deal
creatively with diversity Enhancing our
capacity to deal creatively with
diversity and helping ourselves
collectively tap into the incredible
richness that awaits us there. A
tremendous amount of wisdom, know
how and methodology exists on this
subject already, albeit not as well
integrated as we might like. So we all
have adventures to undertake to help
develop it and weave it together.
Students do have differences which can
be categories into primary and
secondary types of diversity. The first is
visible differences such as gender,
ethnic origin, and age fall into the
primary category; whistles obvious
differences such as class, sexuality, and
disability and work style come under the
secondary category. Research work on
the issue of diversity should be focused
on the positives and strengths of
difference as well as the problems. It
engages with and understands the
totality of people's identity and
experience, and in addition recognizes
and confronts experiences of oppression
and discrimination and their impact on
the individual. Many differences
occurring
within behavior, lifestyles, customs and
habits embrace tradition going back
generations and these are often
encapsulated in what we know as
culture. Lemos and Crane (DoH,
2001)highlighted a lack of cultural
awareness and unequal treatment in
service delivery.
Diversity is a concept that embraces a
wide range of characteristics including:
llanguage
lRace
lethnic background
lDress
lValues
lAge
lGender
leducational background
lreligious observances
lpolitical interests
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
ln o t i o n s a b o u t s o c i a l a n d
community responsibilities
leconomic status
lmental, physical disabilities
Diversity, or difference, is a central
feature of modern existence, partly
because of interaction between
cultures; may be for historical reasons;
and can be through the growth of
i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
technology. As a result, we have to be
aware and accepting of differences if
we want to reap the benefits that
naturally flow from diversity.
We are living in a society that is
ethnically and culturally diverse and it
is important that services reflect this.
This is important in an art environment
that better reflect the lives of different
people and section of the society. In the
same way that cultures interact with
each other, diversity brings new skills
and fresh ideas. We are all different one
from each other and it is these
differences that have a penetrating
value and direct pertinence to the
workplace.
The key elements of working with
diversity and discrimination are:
lThat discrimination is often, subtle,
unintentional and cumulative.
lThat people often respond to being
told they are discriminatory by
being defensive, dismissive,
denying, disregarding or down
grading.
lThat discrimination can be active or
passive. Doing nothing in some
situations can be as damaging as
actively discriminating.
lThat people are multi-dimensional.
They are not just a race or gender,
but have an age, a class, sexuality, an
educational experience. All these
things will affect who they are.
lThere are often hidden elements to
our own and others diversity; a
sexuality, dyslexia, a particular faith
lThe impact of people difference on
others, remembering that we are as
different from others as they are of
us, and power relationships arising
lRecognize and celebrate the
strengths and positives of diversity
is so important in our society.
Educational values art
In general education, art contributes to
the development of a very important
area of literacy by cultivating abilities to
utilize a non-verbal language of
expression and communication. Art
plays an essential role in supporting and
changing culture. It enhances almost
everything that humans manufacture.
Art is so important in our personal lives
and as fundamental as a vehicle of
expression and communication that
individuals and societies could hardly
exist without. So student should take
due advantage of this involvement in art
in order to contribute to cognitive
development and to their growth and
well-being.
CONCLUSION
Appreciating and valuing diversity in
teaching visual arts normal starts with a
clear understanding of its fundamentals,
it is necessary to nurture an appreciation
and value of art, and to demonstrate that
the visual art are an extraordinary
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
phenomenon, that are essential to the
wellbeing for the individual and the
society. The value of diversity and the
differences can then be appreciated by a
clear understanding of what the visual
art means. The visual art is an integral
part of the society, education
engagement in art activities is an
essential part of the school curriculum
which when acquired helps in human
development. The value and diversity
in teaching the visual arts need to be
recognized and respected. Art provides
learner with academic benefit such as
promoting self esteem, motivation,
aesthetics, awareness, creativity,
innovation and emotional expression as
w e l l a s s o c i a l h a r m o n y a n d
appreciation of diversity. Fine art
practiced by nature requires that
students be provided with an
environment that is conducive to
learning both theoretical and practical
skills. Education in every society is
very important factor to the cultural and
artistic development of the society.
Art contributes to the development of a
very important area of literacy by
cultivating abilities to utilize a non
verbal language of expression and
communication. Art plays an essential
role in supporting and changing culture.
There are benefits associated with this
dispensation that are rooted in
exploration and innovation. Thus, there
are far reaching benefits for any
developing nation that makes creativity
the center of its philosophical ideology.
Methodologies that aid exploration and
discovery of potentials, a problem-
solving ability which allows the learner
the opportunity for creativity should be
focus of any educational endeavor or
curriculum transformation. The need
for a paradigm shift from theoretical
and paper certification to a practical
application of knowledge necessary for
f u t u r e e m p l o y m e n t a n d s k i l l
development in the art and design for
self-employment is very necessary for
Africans development.
There are benefits associated with this
dispensation that are rooted in visual art
teaching in Nigeria higher institution
which is through exploration and
innovation. Thus, there are far-reaching
benefits for any developing nation that
makes creativity the centre of its
philosophical ideology.
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
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REFERENCE
Akinbeye, J. O. (2004). Creativity, Innovation and Success, Ibadan-Nigeria:
Stirling-Hordens Publishers NigeriaLtd.
Anya, A.O. (1982). The Environment of Isolation The Ahiajoku Lecture, Ministry of
Information, Owerri, Nigeria
Baxter, M.R. (1995). Product Design, Practical Methods for the Systematic
Development of New Products, NewYork: Chapman and Hall
Bolaji, S.D. (2007). Akinpelu's Educational Philosophy and its Implication to
Educational System in Nigeria,
Unpublished Master's Thesis Submitted to the Department of Educational
Foundations, Faculty of Education,University of Lagos
Lower field and Brittian, L. (1995). Creative and Mental Growth, New York:
Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc.
Murray, J. (1966). Introduction to African Art, London: Camelot Press Ltd.
Rodney W. (1982) How Europe underdeveloped Africa, Enugu, Nigeria: Ikenga
Publishers
Runco, A. M. (1994). Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, New York: Academic Press
Inc
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Appreciating And Valuing Diversity In Teaching
Visual Arts: Goals And Methods
decorate the body and architectural
walls on certain occasions. It consists of
a system of symbolic drawings or design
in the form of animals, plants, material,
objects and other abstract designs. Uli
motifs are studied in order to bring it
closer to the visual artist and also
understanding its aesthetics preferences
in Igbo culture.
The motifs represent things of physical
importance, aesthetic appeal and
relevance to traditional belief, (Willis
1987). Udechukwu (1981) stated that
"Uli is calligraphic in form and it is quite
possible that it was linked with some
kind of writing somewhere in the past:
that ide (to write)appears in ide Uli (to
draw with Uli) and ide ife (to write
something) or ide akwukwo (to write
onpaper) shows their close kinship as
well as the possibility of one deriving
from the other. In1992, Obiora
Udechukwu, showed works of both
"traditional" and modern uli women
artists, in an exhibition titled Uli:
Different Times, Different Hands
organized at University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, These creative exercises by
both old and modern artists provided a
new stylistic approach, that is most
original and philosophical creative art
Abstract
This paper looks into the need to give
the Uli art Culture of Eastern Nigeria an
artistic visual design identity based on
their tradition. The exploratory design
analysis which is used is based on the
concepts that ideas and materials for the
old and new methods of the Uti culture.
It has been analyzed and synthesized
into more dynamic indigenous system
of visual communication in Nigeria that
will enhance the general development of
the society. The analyses of signs,
symbols, posters and other art works
were carried out based on their artistic,
aesthetic and functional design mainly
as it concern the Uli and Nsibidi visual
method of communication design in
modern time. The research harmonize
the traditional and the modern method
with a view to developing a new visual
made communication method based on
their culture and technology in recent
time. The culture just like their close
associates could also reduce these sign
and symbols into simple code for
confidentiality, security, affection and
e c o n o m i c t r a n s i t i o n s a m o n g
themselves.
Keywords: Uli motifs, culture, visual
design, architectural walls
INTRODUCTION
Uli motifs or representations are an Igbo
art form initially used by women to
ULI MOTIFS: IT'S AESTHETICS ON ARCHITECTURAL WALLS
By
Dr. Godwin O. Uka & Chukwu, Chimaechetam
Dept. of Architecture
Godfrey Okoye University.
Enugu, Nigeria.
godwinuka @gouni.edu.ng 08162175492/echeletic@gmail.com
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
31
directs travelers quickly and clearly,
thereby playing a crucial role in
accelerating and making life's what
living. Colorful design elements are
particularly useful in old and new
buildings or projects where there is a
rich mixture of shops and restaurants; in
airports hospitals and public places.
Sign package and construction is not
only determined by the graphics
element of types and style but also by
the environment in which the scheme
has to appear and the function the signs
are expected to play. The boundary
between sign and architectural graphics
(wall treatments, flags and banners for
example) is often subtle, at times non-
existence. Some wall graphics can serve
the dual function of displaying
information and providing large area of
color. But architectural graphics as an
abstract wall design are mostly used to
(enhance) enliven large public space
which otherwise would be very dull.
Design can involve recognizable motifs
appropriate or typical to the situation
under or may be completely abstract.
Art in general sense is the expression or
application of human creative skill and
imagination, typically in a visual form
such as graphics, painting or sculpture,
producing works to be appreciated
primarily for their beauty or emotional
power. Art can be defined as a diverse
range of activities executed by human
beings, as well as the products of these
activities. Art can be of many forms as
well. A visual art is the creation of
images that can be seen by the eyes. The
idiom in the use of Nigerian indigenous
images that emerged in modern time.
Willis (1987) in her work titled, A
Lexicon of Igbo Uli Motifs asserts that,
"the woman's perception of all aspects
of life and nature, and most notably,
ideas and objects which are held to be
p a r t i c u l a r l y i m p o r t a n t a n d
representative of Igbo culture, are
transmitted into visual vocabulary
which provides important reference
materials for designers, architects, art
historians, and ethnographers alike. It is
on record that over the past thirty years,
there have been many studies on the
form and function of Uli drawing and
design as seen in specific locations: K.
C.Murray's notes on Uli painting in the
Bende area of Abia State, Nigeria and
M.D.W. Jeffrey's note on Uli paintings
and design in Awke, Anambra State
have provided a significant number of
motifs. Uli draws and designs as an art
form, expresses the culture of Igbo
people.
Architectural graphics is an abstract
wall design mostly used to (enhance)
enliven large public space which
otherwise would be very dull. Design
can involve recognizable motifs
appropriate or typical to the situation
under or may be completely abstract.
Signs and architectural graphics should
be properly use in the environment in
order to educate and make people aware
of their culture. Sign system or
architectural graphics is very important
and useful in the present changing
world of things. It points the way or
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
32
Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
would be encode the choice he made at
the point of reincarnation of returning to
the world of the living. What is line - It is
the bases of all visual formation. The
designer who occupies a responsible
position in the society by creating
functional and beautiful things using his
hands through his brain condition by his
mind either by inspiration, talent or
intuition of expression as a force in the
realization of works of art. The designer
or artist using available tools at his
disposal engages in a serious business of
creation. The design through his media
of expression he designs/creates and
covey the weight of his creative
experiences, just like the architect use
different lines, basic geometric shapes
in the design and construction of
buildings and other structures,
Artist/designer is always concerned
with their place and their works. Art is a
historical document which mirrors and
reflects the social tendencies of the time
of its creation, which provides the
viewer with the artistic motivation into
the visual power of ....... in expansion of
and exploration into the nature of man.
Art in geometric representation of idea
in different types of lines circle, curves,
straight and so on. Line is the bases of all
formation; it can be viewed from
different perspectives as a chain of spots
joined together, a stroke made with a
pain, narrow long mark. Line can be
thick, straight, zig-zag and so on; it can
be similar and contrasting. Lines are
used to divide space, direct the eyes and
also create form. These are major types
visual art also include sculpting,
p a i n t i n g , c e r a m i c s , g r a p h i c s ,
photography, and other visual media.
Other form of art includes music,
theatre, dance, film, and other arts that
require performing fall under the
performing arts category. Literature and
other form of interactive arts fall under
broader definition of arts while fields
such as interior design, architecture,
industrial design of applied arts. Art can
also be defined as the representation of
reality, communication of emotion,
expression or other qualities. Aesthetics
is the branch of philosophy that
explores arts and the related concepts
such as interpretation and creativity.
Geometric shapes and lines
Uka, 2000
Line an element of design play
important function in art production is
very useful in any visual representation.
Akalaka in Igbo means "the lines of the
hand or palm", predetermine that a man
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
33
Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
as drawing, painting on fabrics, well
paper and advertising layout: designing
in two plans. 3-dimensional designs are
works executed in the round. It includes
s u c h a c t i v i t i e s a s s c u l p t u r e ,
architecture, handicraft such as jewelry,
pottery, leather works, clothing and
machine-made objects such as chairs,
automobiles, package, 3D animation
and so-on, are example of 2D and 3 D
drawing. This is designing in three
plans. All geometric aspects of the
imaginary object are accounted for in
true size/to-scale and shape, and can be
imaged as seen from any position in
space. All images are represented on a
two-dimensional surface.
Descriptive geometry uses the image-
creating technique of imaginary,
parallel projectors emanating from an
imaginary object and intersecting an
imaginary plane of projection at right
angles. The cumulative points of
intersections create the desired image.
The research into the aesthetics of Uli
motifs design on architectural walls in
Nigeria is very necessary as it concerns
our culture, it is important to clarify the
meaning of "aesthetics" as a domain to
be investigated. Uli motifs or
representations is an Igbo art form
initially used by women to decorate the
body and walls on certain occasions, it
consists of a system of symbolic
drawings or design inform of animals,
plants, material objects and other
abstract designs. Ulimotifs are studied
in order to bring it closer to the visual
artist and also understanding of its
of lines. Actual lines, implied lines and
three dimensional lines. Line is a basic
element in architectural construction.
Descriptive geometry is the branch of
g e o m e t r y w h i c h a l l o w s t h e
representation of three-dimensional
objects in two dimensions, by using a
specific set of procedures. The resulting
t e c h n i q u e s ar e i m p o r t a n t f o r
engineering, architecture, design and in
art. This branch of mathematics
concerned with the properties and
relations of points, lines, surfaces,
solids, and higher dimensional analogs,
the shape and relative arrangement of
the parts of something, for example the
"the geometry of spiders' webs" and
buildings.
Uka, 2020
Dimensional Form: here the designer
drawn or craft out his works in various
plans of space to represent the real
objects intended to produce. This type
of design process can further be
classified into 2D and 3D designs. 2-
dimensional designs are works done on
flat surface. It involves such activities
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
interesting; example is when "the artist
made minced meat out of his colors.
When an artist start thinking beyond
merely identifying a work's visual
elements (the character of its lines,
shapes, colors, and so on.) and the ways
in which these elements are organized. It
is essential to consider the proposition
that works of art speak to us through
both their formal organization and the
signs, symbols and metaphors that can
be associated with them. Works of art
become most meaningful
for us when they evoke thoughts and
feelings. "
Art is the expression or application of
human creative skill and imagination,
typically in a visual form such as
graphics, painting or sculpture,
producing works to be appreciated
primarily for their beauty or emotional
power. Art can be defined as a diverse
range of activities executed by human
beings, as well as the products of these
activities. Art can be of many forms as
well. Avisual art is the creation of
images that can be seen by the eyes and
these include sculpting, painting,
ceramics, graphics, photography, and
other visual media. Other forms of art
include music, theatre, dance, film, and
other arts that require performing fall
under the performing arts category.
Literature and other form of interactive
arts fall under broader definition of arts
while fields such as interior design,
architecture, industrial design and the
likes fall under the category of applied
arts. Art can also be defined as the
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f r e a l i t y ,
communication of emotion, expression
aesthetics preferences in Igbo culture.
Generally speaking, aesthetics can be a
set of principles that concern with the
nature and appreciation of beauty,
specifically, a set of principles
underling the work of a particular artist
or artistic movement.
Aesthetic qualities are qualities seen by
the viewer when looking at the artwork.
For the artist/designer, Aesthetic
qualities are when art elements and
principles come together to create a
certain feel, to the image such as warm
color which create a sense of beauty and
harmony. To demonstrate the value of
learning about the cultural context of
works of art, the aesthetic analysis
exercise that follows will also include
reviewing some of the cultural
components associated work. In order
to demonstrate the value of learning
about the cultural context of works of
art, the aesthetic analysis exercise that
follows will also include reviewing
some of the cultural components
associated with the work.
Visual metaphors are implied as a
consequence of analyzing the
relationships between the formal
structures and subject matter of works
of art. In addition to their role as
symbols, the crosses can also function
as visual metaphors if the artist will take
the time to analyze their form-content
relationships. A metaphor is a figure of
speech that transfers one thing to
another through implied comparisons.
It is used to infuse writing and speech
with vitality, which make both more
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
35
Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
of creation. The design through his
media of expression he designs /creates
and covey the weight of his creative
experiences.
Art is a historical document that mirrors
and reflects the social tendencies of the
time of its creation; it provides the
viewer with the artistic motivation into
the visual power of in expansion of and
exploration into the nature of man. Art
can be represented in different forms
and media; it can be a geometric
representation of idea with different
types of lines circle, curves, straight and
so Line is the bases of all formation; it
can be viewed from different
perspectives as a chain of spots joined
together, a stroke made with a pain,
narrow long mark.
Line can be thick, straight, zig-zag and
so on; it can be similar and contrasting.
Line is used to divide space, direct the
eyes and also create form. These are
major types of lines. Actual lines,
implied lines and three dimensional
lines there all so exist bother types of
line in art works outside these regard of
research.
CONCLUSION
Uli motifs have through this paper
exposed the Igbo cultural heritage and
it's aesthetics on architectural wall
design in Nigeria. Art which is the
expression or application of human
creative skill and imagination, typically
in a visual form such as graphics,
painting or sculpture, producing works
to be appreciated primarily for their
beauty or emotional power. Art is a
or other qualities. Aesthetics is the
branch of philosophy that explores arts
and the related concepts such as
interpretation and creativity.
Ekekwe Chukwunyere Daviud 2002
Title: Death & Resurrection Some of
the mortifies are "Akalaka" in Igbo
means "the lines of the hand or palm",
which can predetermine that, a
mancould or would be encoding the
choice he made at the point of
reincarnation of returning to the world
of the living. In Igbo culture, line is the
bases of all visual formation. The
designer who occupies a responsible
position in the society by creating
functional and beautiful things using
his hands through his brain condition by
his mind either by inspiration, talent or
intuition of expression as a force in the
realization of works of art. The designer
or artist using available tools at his
disposal engages in a serious business
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
36
Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
frame work of a quest for order which
can be assumed to lie at the heart of any
kind of socialization. The symbols,
signs and motifs used by Nsibidi and Uli
artist are form of visual presentation and
communication which in deed form part
of our daily living. In the traditional
setting these signs, symbols and motifs
were used by our ancestors to
communicate and other things. This was
mainly to communicate messages, ideas
and information in form that can be read
or looked upon for aesthetics and other
p u r p o s e s . T h e t e r m " v i s u a l "
presentation in graphics communication
is used to refer to the actual presentation
of information to the public through a
visual medium such as text, images,
symbols, and a combination of other
graphics elements via a particular media
of presentation.
historical document which mirrors and
reflects the social tendencies of the time
of its creation it also provides the
viewer with the artistic motivation into
the visual communication power
inheriting it. The ideas or ways of doing
something new is one way of changing
and developing our environment, Uli
and Nsibidi artists have introduced new
ways of representing their works in
contemporary time. African's have
embraced creativity and innovation as a
way forward towards the expression of
our artistic ingenuity to the whole
world. Creativity and spontaneity may
succeed in limiting uncertainty leading
to more stable living conditions of
Africans. Changes brought by
creativity and spontaneity can be
subsumed under the more general
REFERENCES
Arnol A S. (1937) "Art and Industry in Arechukwu" Nigeria No. 12, pp-11
Isichei Elizabeth (1975) A History of the Igbo people, London: Macmillan, p. 3.
Jefferys M.D. W (1957) Negro abstract art or Ibo body pattems. S. A.M.A.B. (South
African Enugu, Fourth Dimension Publishers
Kalu, O.U. (1978 Ed) "Writing in pre-colonial Africa; A case study of Nsibidi",
African Cultural Development, and Ireland, Vol. 30
Macgregor, J.K. (1909). "Some notes on Nsibidi" in The Journal of the Royal
Anthological Institute of Great Britain
Murrey K.C. (1972) Ibo body painting Unpublished notes and drawings
Museums Association Bulletin) No. 6, pp. 219-229
Talbot 1912:305, 1969.932). Peoples, IV. pp95-96
Ubom, LP. (1987). "Cultural development in Cross River State" in Akwa Ibom and
Cross River State: the Land, thePeople and Their Culture: Abasiattai
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
37
Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
Monday B. (Ed), Calabar, Wusesn Press Limited
Udechukwu Obiora (1981) Uli AND LI: aspects of Igbo and Chinese Drawing and
PaintingNigeria Magazine NOS. 134-135
Umoctuk, O. U. (1985), "Body Art in Ihibio Culture" Nigeria Magazine, Vol. 53 No. 2
April-June
Willis Elizabeth A (1987) A LEXICON OF IGBO ULI MOTIFS in Nsukka Journal of
theHumanities Number 1, June 1987
Kalu, O.U. (1978). "Writing in pre-colonial Africa; A case study of Nsibidi", African
Cultural Development,Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers.
Isichei Elizaberth(1975) A History of the Igbo people, London: Macmillan, p. 3.
and Ireland. Vol. 30
Macgregor, 1.K. (1909). "Some notes on Nsibidi" in The Journal of the Royal
Anthological Institute of Great Britain
Jefferys, M.D. W (1957) "Negro abstract art or ibo body patterns' S. AM. A. B. (South
African
Murrey K.C. (1972) 'Ibo body painting" Unpublished notes and drawings
Museums Association Bulletin) No. 6, pp. 219-229
Udechukwu Obiora (1981) Ull AND LI aspects of Igbo AND Chinese Drawing and
Painting.Nigeria Magazine NOS. 134-135
Talbot (1912:308), 1969:932) Peoples, IV. pp95-96
Ubom, I.P. (1987); "Cultural development in Cross River State" in Akwa Ibom and
Cross River State: the Land, the People and Their Culture: Abasiattai
Monday B. (Ed), Calabar, Wusesn Press Limited
Umoetuk, O. U. (1985); "Body Art in Ibibio Culture" Nigeria Magazine; Vol. 53 No.
2 April-
Willis Elizaberth A (1987) A LEXICON OF IGBO ULI MOTIFS in Nsukka Journal
of theHumanities Number 1, June 1987
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
38
Uli Motifs: It's Aesthetics On Architectural Walls
PROXIMATE ANALYSIS, ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES AND
ASCORBIC ACID CONTENT OF FICUS CAPENSIS FRUITS
a b c c
Njokunwogbu, A.N , Ugwuonah, L. A. , Ilo Uchenna Scholastica , Ene Felicitas Chinecherem .
a. Bioinorganic and Natural Product Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department,
Godfrey Okoye University P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers' Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
b. Medicinal Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University,
P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers' Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
c. Industrial Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University,
P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers' Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
Correspondents: njokuambrose@yahoo.com,njokunwogbuambrose@gouni.edu.ng
08087279911
Abstract
The application of different parts of ficus capensis tree in ethno-medical and nutritional purposes
have gathered tremendous interests among scholars currently. However, there is almost absent of
such scholarly report on the fruits of this tree. Hence this work is aimed at stimulating the
bioprospection of the fruits in order to establish its medicinal and nutritional qualities. The
proximate analysis, antioxidant properties and ascorbic acid content of ficus capensis fruits
collected from Maryland, Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State Nigeria is reported.
The parameters investigated were determined using standard biochemical methods. The proximate
analysis of the fruits give the following distribution: Ashcontent (9.0%), crude fiber (4.53%), crude
protein (8.28%), moisture content (6.0%), crude lipid (3.5%), and carbohydrate (68.69%). The high
percentage of carbohydrate shows that this fruit is a good source of energy. The antioxidant activity
of the methanol extract of the fruits was tested using DPPH- Scaving assay. The DPPH- free radical
scarvenging activity of the methanol extract of the fruits show good antioxidant activity.Ascorbic
acid was determined by redox titration using iodine solution according to AOAC 1990.This showed
that the fruits are quite rich in ascorbic acid which adds to the medicinal and nutritional values of the
fruits.
Keywords: Ficus capensis fruits, moraceae, Proximate composition, Antioxidant Property,
Metabolic extract, Ascorbic acid.
INTRODUCTION:
Ficus is a genus of family moraceae and consists of about 850 species. About 200 different
varieties of ficus are present as woody trees, shrubs and vines in the forests of tropical and
subtropical regions.Since ancient times, ficus species has been used as a source of food to improve
the health of mankind. Most of the species of ficus are used in industrial products as nourishing
foods. These are composed mainly of water, lipids, essential amino acids, minerals and vitamins.
Ficus genus worked as food additives that are used frequently as health – promoting Mediterranean
diet. It has great importance as nutraceutical and in biopharmaceutical industries. They are known
as rich sources of amino acids that are totally free from cholesterol and fat contents. Ficus carica is
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
39
an excellent source of minerals containing copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium and calcium
according to human needs.
Ficus species have been used as traditional medicines to cure diseases, such as, astringents
carminatives, stomachic, vermicides, hypotensive, anthelmintic and anti-dysentery drugs.
Ficus species, such as, Ficusracemosa, F, glomerata, F, glumosa, F. carica, F. religiosa and F.
benghalensis are known from ancient times as herbal medicines to treat diabetic disorders as
regulating enzymatic activities, carbohydrates absorption rate, increasing insulin sensitivity,
insulin secretion, hepatic glycogen synthesis, peripheral glucose uptake and antioxidant status of
body.
Ficus Capensis is a fast growing, deciduous or ever green tree. It usually grows to about 5-12 meters
(16-39ft) in height but may attain a height of 35-40 meters (115-131ft). The large alternate and
spirally-arranged leaves are ovate to elliptic with irregular serrated margins. Fresh foliage is
conspicuous red color. The bark of young tress is smooth and pale greyish-white in color in contrast
to the flaky, yellow bark of F.sycomorus, with increasing age, the bark becomes darker and rough.
The figs are carried on long drooping spurs or fascicles which may emerge from surface roots, the
trunk or especially from lower main branches. The figs are 2 – 4cm in diameter and acquire a rosy
speckled exterior when ripe (Palgrave, 1984).
Fig.1: FICUS CAPENSIS TREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collection of plant material
The fresh fruits of Ficus capensis used for the study were collected from the fig tree (F. capensis)
from Maryland, Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State. They were authenticated by
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
40
Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic
Acid Content Of Ficus Capensis Fruits.
a Botanist at University of Nigeria Nsukka, in the Department of Bioresources and Conservation
Research Centre Nsukka.
Preparation of plant material
The fruits of Ficus capensis were first plucked, washed and drained under air. The fruits were cut
into pieces after draining under air and were spread under the sun to dry. After drying of the fruits
sample, it was then pulverized to powder using an electric grinding machine (Panasonik MX-
337N). The powdered material was stored in an air-tight container.
Preparation of the extracts
Four hundred grams (400g) of the powdered fruit sample was extracted with 1500ml of methanol
using cold maceration for 24 hours with continuous stirring. The mixture was filtered with
whatman No.1 filter paper. The filtrate was concentrated using oven under a reduced pressure at
o
40 C to obtain the crude extract of ficus capensis fruits. The crude extract was stored in a
refrigerator until it is ready for use.
PROXIMATE ANALYSIS
Determination of Percentage Moisture
The hot oven method of Pearson (1976) was used. One (1g) of the sample was measured into a
o
thoroughly washed and oven dried crucible. The sample in the crucible was put in the oven at 105 C
for 1 hour to dry and the weight was recorded. The sample was dried for another 30 minutes and
cooled in desiccators. The weight was also taken. This was repeated till a constant weight was
attained. Moisture content was then calculated thus:
% Moisture = W – W x 100
2 3
W – W
2 1
where Weight of crucible = W , Weight of crucible + sample before drying = W , Weight of crucible
1 2
+ sample after drying = W
3
Determination of Percentage Ash Content.
An empty crucible was washed, dried and the weight was noted. Two grams of the ground sample
was weighed accurately into a platinum crucible and was ignited in a universal hot-air oven for 24
o
hours at 600 C. The platinum crucible and its content were then cooled to room temperature in
desciccator. The ash content was then obtained by calculation.
% Ash content = W – W x 100
2 1
2g 1
Where weight of empty platinum crucible = W , weight of platinum crucible + sample after
1
burning = W .
2
Determination of Percentage Crude Fibre
In the determination of crude fibre, we used the method of Joshyn (1970)
Two (2g) of ground sample was measured and put in 250 ml conical flask, soaked in 100 ml of 1.25
%v/v H SO for 10 minutes, and heated for 30 minutes on a hot plate. The resulted mixture was
2 4
filtered and the residue washed with hot distilled water three times to ensure that it is no more
acidic. The residue was re-soaked in 200 ml of 1.25%w/v NaOH and heated again for another 30
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic
Acid Content Of Ficus Capensis Fruits.
41
o
minutes. The solution was filtered in a known weight of filter paper, dried in oven at 100 C for 2
hours, cooled and reweighed.
% Crude Fibre = weight of Fibre x 100
weight of sample
Weight of ash = weight of Platinum Crucible + Ash - Weight of Platinum Crucible,
Weight of Fibre = Weight of Residue - Weight of Ash
Determination of Percentage Fat and Oil
Soxhlet extraction method of AOAC (2000) was used. Five gram (5g) of the sample was wrapped in
a filter paper and put in a Soxhlet extractor. A heating mantle was applied below a conical flask with
n-hexane inside, which aided in oil extraction. The system was recycled 8 – 9 times to achieve
maximum yield of oil. At the end of the recycling, the extractor was disconnected and distillation
apparatus set up to separate the solvent (n-hexane) from the oil, as a way of solvent recovery. An
empty beaker was weighed and the mixture containing oil and traces of the solvent after distillation
was transferred into the weighed beaker and heated to remove the remaining n-hexane leaving only
the oil. This was cooled in desiccators and the weight of the beaker determined again.
% (Oil and Fat) = W - W X 100
2 1
Weight of sample
W = Weight of empty beaker, W = Weight of beaker + Oil
1 2
W – W = Weight of Oil
2 1
Determination of the Percentage Crude Protein Content:
The Kjeldahl method of AOAC (2000), was used.
This method comprises of three major stage. These are digestion, distillation and titration stages.
Digestion: 0.5 g of the sample was measured into a Kjeldahl flask, 10g of sodium tetraoxosulphate
(V1) (Na SO ), was added to increase the boiling point, and 1g of copper (II) tetraoxosulphate (VI)
2 4
(CuSO ) was added as catalyst. Then 20 ml of concentrated tetraoxosulphate (IV) acid was added.
4
This was digested by heating with bunsenburner in a fume cupboard until the solution turned bluish
green, indicating complete digestion. Heating was stopped and the solution was allowed to cool for
24 hours.
On cooling, the solution solidifies and the colour changed from bluish green to white. The essence
+
of the digestion is to convert all the nitrogen to ammonium ions (NH ).
4
Distillation stage:
200ml of distilled water was added to the solidified sample in the kjeldahl flask to dissolve it, giving
an exothermic reaction. The solution was placed in a refrigerator to cool. After cooling, 60ml of 40%
NaOH was added to it.
Also, 3 pieces of zinc metal, acting as catalyst was added and then transferred to a round bottom
flask connected to distillation apparatus and heat. The distillate was collected in a 250ml conical
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
42
Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic
Acid Content Of Ficus Capensis Fruits.
flask containing 4% boric acid (100ml) and 2 drops of screened methyl red indicator. The collected
solution in the conical flask was pink in colour but when the distillation was completed, the colour
changed to light blue.
Titration stage
The collected solution (distillate) of about 200ml was titrated with 0.1N H SO . The end point was
2 4
taken when the colour of the solution changed from blue to pink.
Percentage Crude Protein = 100 xTV x 0.0014
Weight of sample
Where, 100 = conversion of %, TV = titer value,
0.0014 = constant, which implies that 0.0014 is librated by 1ml of 0.1N H SO
2 4
Determination of Percentage Carbohydrate
The method of Pearson (1976) was used Thus, the carbohydrate content of the sample was
determined by taking the sum of ash, protein, moisture, crude fibre, fat and oil from 100. That is %
Carbohydrate = 100 – (%Ash + %Protein + %Moisture + %Crude Fibre + % Fat and Oil).
ANTIOXIDANT
DPPH Scavenging Assay
DPPH- free radical scavenging capacity of the extract was evaluated according to the method of
Brand Williams (1995).
A number of 0.5mls of the different concentration of the extract and standard were mixed with 3mls
of methanol and 0.3mls of DPPH, the mixture were vortex for 1min and left to stand at room
temperature in the dark for 30mins and the absorbance was read at 517nm, against a sample blank
containing 0.5ml of the sample and 3.3ml of methanol, with a control containing 3.5mls of
methanol and 0.3mls of DPPH solution.
ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C)
Vitamin C was determined by redox titration using iodine solution as stated in AOAC (1990).
A number of 5g of sample was weighed into a conical flask and 50mls of water was added and
allowed to stand for 24hours after which it was filtered. 20ml of the filtrate was measured into a
conical flask. 150ml of distilled water was added. 5mls of potassium iodide solution (0.6M) and 1M
hydrochloric acid was added each. 1ml of 5% starch indicator was added. The solution was titrated
with 0.6M potassium iodate solution to end point (blue black coloration).
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43
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
PROXIMATE COMPOSITION
TABLE 1: Percentage proximate compositions of the ficus capensis fruit extract
From table 1 above it could be seen that the high ash content (9.0% ) in the fruits is indicative of the
high mineral contents. Mineral helps in water balance, bone and body metabolism. Minerals are
essential components of many enzymes, vitamins, hormones and respiratory pigments. They are
cofactors in metabolism processes.
Crude fiber (4.53%). Fiber is an essential body nutrient. It helps in lowering constipation, high
blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer (Ishu, 2013). Thus its appreciable
amount in the proximate composition of the fruit raises the nutritional qualities of this fruit.
Moisture content (6.0) of the fruit shows that the fruit is a good source of water for the cells of the
body ( Okeke et al, 2008). The amount of moisture in the food is an indication of the water activity,
hence it is used to determine food susceptibility and stability of spoilage microorganisms. Fat
content (3.5%). Fat gives palatability to foods, serves as storage and transport forms of metabolic
fuel, serves as thermal/ electrical insulators for subcutaneous tissues, emulsifier for drugs
preparation and forms structural components of bio membranes (Antia et al, 2006). Essentially fat-
soluble vitamins are processed by dietary lipids and consumption of much fats are known to cause
cardiovascular diseases like atherosclerosis, cancer and aging ( Antia et al, 2006) hence the
moderate quantity of fat in the fruits of Ficus capensis demonstrates its importance for medicinal
and nutritional uses,
The percentage composition of protein in the fruit under study is 8.28%. Protiens is essential for
healthy growths in children, repair and maintenance in adult, production of immunoglobulins for
body defense, production of enzymes and hormones (Emebu and Anyika, 2011).
The percentage carbohydrate in this study (68.69%) is high. Carbohydrates provides energy to body
cells, mostly the brain cells which solely depend on glucose component of carbohydrates for its
function ( Effiong and Udofia, 2009). The high content of carbohydrate in the proximate
composition of the fruits shows that it is a good source of energy.
Ash content
Crude fiber
Crude protein
Moisture content
Crude lipid
Carbohydrate
9%
4.53%
8.28%
6.0%
3.5%
68.69%
(%) Composition Proximate Parameters
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IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT STUDIES
DPPH Scavenging Assay
FIG 2: In vitro 1-1-DIPHENYL 2-PICRYL HYDRAZYL activities of Methanolic Extract of
Ficus capensis fruits.
Fig 2 shows in vitro DPPH activities of Methanol extract of ficus capensis fruits. Different
concentrations of extract were compared with ascorbic acid standard (0.1- 2.0 mg/ml). From the
results obtained, methanol extract of ficus capensis fruits showed result of antioxidant activities at
four concentration used (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0). It is observed that the extract showed low
antioxidant activities when compared with ascorbic acid standard.
Antioxidants protect cells against the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species otherwise called,
free radicals such as singlet oxygen, super oxide, peroxyl radicals, hydroxyl radicals and peroxynite
which results in oxidative stress leading to cellular damage (Mattson & Cheng, 2006). Natural
antioxidants play a key role in health maintenance and prevention of the chronic and degenerative
diseases, such as atherosclerosis, cardiac and cerebral ischema, carcinogenesis, neurodegenerative
disorders, diabetic pregnancy, rheumatic disorder, DNA damage and ageing (Uddin et al., 2008;
Jayasri et al., 2009). Antioxidants exert their activity by scavenging the 'free-oxygen radicals'
thereby giving rise to a fairly 'stable radical'. The free radicals are metastable chemical species,
which tend to trap electrons from the molecules in the immediate surroundings. These radicals if not
scavenged effectively in time, they may damage crucial bio molecules like lipids, proteins
including those present in all membranes, mitochondria and, the DNA resulting in abnormalities
leading to disease conditions (Uddin et al. 2008). Thus, free radicals are involved in a number of
diseases including: tumour inflammation hemorrhagic shock, atherosclerosis, diabetes, infertility,
gastrointestinal ulcerogenesis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disorders, cystic
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic
Acid Content Of Ficus Capensis Fruits.
45
fibrosis, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. parkinsonism, Alzheimer's diseases), AIDS and even
early senescence (Uddin et al., 2008;Chen et. al., 2006).
Antioxidant composition
Antioxidants are the substances which can scavenge free radicals and reduce the oxidative stress in
the living and non-living systems. The antioxidants possess electron donating ability and inhibit the
free radical-mediated oxidative reactions by various mechanisms, such as, hydrogen donation,
metal chelation, metal and lipid reduction, inhibition of lipid peroxidation and free radical
inhibition. Free radicals are the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species which are produced during
various biochemical reactions particularly redox reactions. If not controlled properly, these free
radicals may initiate the chain reactions in the biomolecules particularly the lipids and protein,
cause the oxidative stress, and ?nally lead to the oxidative damage to the cell organelles, cells and
tissues. The oxidative damage to the cells and tissues may further lead to various health problems
including cardiovascular, neurological, hepatic, and musculoskeletal abnormalities and aging. In
non-living system, the free radicals cause oxidative stress and rancidity in the food stuff for human.
The naturally occurring antioxidant compounds have been proved to be effective in preventing the
oxidative damage to the living and non-living systems. These substances are either synthesized
endogenously or taken from exogenous natural sources such as plants. The naturally occurring
antioxidants include some enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase
and some non-enzymatic phytochemicals compounds including phenolic acids, polyphenols,
?avonoids, anthocyanins, ascorbic acid, tocopherols, and B-carotenes. Some synthetic antioxidant
compounds have been also reported to be effective against free radical-induced oxidative damage.
ASCORBIC ACID CONTENT
Table 2: The result of the ascorbic acid content of ficus capensis fruit at different
concentration per gram
Ascorbic acid is one of the most important water soluble vitamins. It is essential for collagen
carnitine and neurotransmitter biosynthesis.
Ascorbic acid (vitamin c) is food substance needed by human to prevent scurvy, a disease of the
gums, bones and blood vessels, and to increase the body's resistance to infection. Ascorbic acid acts
as an antioxidant, a nutrient that chemically binds and neutralizes the tissue-damaging effects of
substances in the environment known as free radicals (Redmond, 2008).
As a result, ascorbic acid is vital for the growth and maintenance of healthy bones, teeth, gums,
ligaments and blood vessels. Also because of its role in formation of collagen, the body's major
Concentration per gram of Ascorbic acid
0.000216
0.000648
0.000432
5g
15g
100g
Concentration
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Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic
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46
building protein, ascorbic acid is a central component of all the body organs.
Vitamin C is a cofactor in at least eight enzymatic reaction including severe collagen synthesis
reaction that when dysfunctional, causes the most severe symptoms of scurvy (Food Standard
Agency, 2007).
CONCLUSION
The study has shown proximate composition, antioxidant properties and ascorbic
acid content of ficus capensis fruits, in a detailed form that enabled us to show the
medicinal and nutritional qualities of the fruits. Ficus Capensis Fruits possess
antioxidant potential due to higher concentration of phytochemical compounds. The
fruits have a valuable role in human nutrition and have a great medicinal importance
due to the presence of a variety of bioactive phytochemical compounds. These
phytochemicals and water-soluble vitamins make ficus capensis fruits a medicinal
plant which show various bioactive activities, particularly the antioxidant activity.
On the account of its high antioxidant potential, ficus capensis fruits can be used for
the management of oxidative stress and the treatment of various diseases. Oxidative
stress is an important cause of many human diseases. The role of antioxidants in
pharmacology is widely studied mostly in the treatment of different types of
neurodegenerative diseases and stroke. Antioxidants are mostly used as food
supplements so as to maintain health and prevent diseases. Ficus capensis fruits is a
good source of antioxidants.
REFERENCES
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Phytochemical, Proximate Analysis, Vitamine and Mineral Composition of Aqueous
Extract of Ficus Capensis Leaves in South Eastern Nigeria.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Acid Content Of Ficus Capensis Fruits.
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6. AOAC (2000). Official Methods of Analysis International. SeventeenthEdition.
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evaluate antioxidant activity. Lebensm Wiss Technol. 28:25-30.
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11. Deepa, P. et al (2018). A role of Ficus species in the management of diabetes mellitus: A
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12. Diplock, A.T., Charleux, J.L., Crozier-Willi, G., Kok, F.J., Rice-Evans., Robertroid, M.,
Stahl, W. and Vina-Ribes, J. (1998). Functional food science and defence against reactive
oxidative species. Brazilian Journal of Nutrition 80: S77 – S112.
13. Effiong, G.S., Ibia, I.o and Udofia, U.S. (2009) Nutritive and Energy value of some wild
fruits in South Eastern Nigeria. Electronic Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Food
Chemistry. 8(10): 917 – 923.
14. El-Fishawy A, Zayed R, Afifi S. (2011). Phytochemical and pharmacological studies of
Ficus auriculata Lour. Journal of Natural Products. 4:184-195.
15. Emebu P.K., Anyika, J.U (2011). Proximate and Mineral composition of Kale (Brassica
Oleracea) grown in Delta State, Nigeria. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 10(2):190-194.
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The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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Proximate Analysis, Antioxidant Properties And Ascorbic
Acid Content Of Ficus Capensis Fruits.
AN APPRAISAL OF MAINTENANCE CONDITIONS OF
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION ESTATES IN ENUGU METROPOLIS, NIGERIA
By
Department of Architecture, Godfrey Okoye University Enugu.
bsaokoye@gouni.edu.ng
Okoye, B. S. A.
implementation would likely be easier for the
desired higher commitment to building and
infrastructure maintenance. The proposed
hypothesis was that 'there is no significant
difference between the estates in maintenance
conditions of residential buildings in ESHDC
estates in Enugu Metropolis'.
Keywords: Building maintenance, public
residential, poor funding, management system.
INTRODUCTION
Building maintenance culture is an attitude
which appears to be lacking in Nigerian public
residential buildings, as well as in office,
educational or industrial buildings. Poor
maintenance culture has become a widely
recognized problem in Nigeria which has
affected the quality of public residential
buildings. These provide occupants with less
conducive, safe, comfortable, healthy and
secure indoor environment to carry out their
daily activities of work, study, leisure and
family life as well as social interactions, at
times, at subsidized rates. To achieve this
purpose, buildings are designed, planned,
constructed and managed, based on standards
and specifications established by government
agencies, professionals and experts who are
conversant with the needs and expectations of
residents. These standards and specifications
do not conform to the ever changing needs and
expectations of residents; and so users always
seek to improve maintenance conditions of
their buildings for continued satisfactory use of
their accommodation.
Abstract
Residents always seek to change the use and
extend the lives of their buildings by
remodeling, modifying or abandoning
occupied buildings in extreme case of
dilapidation. Enugu has faced high building
maintenance needs that require the synergy of
both residents and facility providers as the
needs of the residents would not be met at the
rate of population increase. The aim of this
paper is to appraise maintenance conditions
of physical elements of residential buildings
and infrastructure in Housing Development
Corporation Estates in Enugu metropolis
with a view to improving on building
maintenance framework that could influence
design concepts of public residential
buildings. Survey design method was applied
and it focused on four public residential
buildings of ESHDC estates in Enugu
metropolis. After stratification of the estates,
based on their ages and simple random
sampling, occupied buildings were selected
for this research. Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) test was used to test differences
between the variables Maintenance
Conditions of Residential Buildings (MCRB)
in ESHDC of Enugu Metropolis V51 (ordinal)
and V52 (Nominal). With p<0.05, the study
found there was significant difference
between the maintenance conditions of the
buildings in the four housing estates
investigated. The policy implication of these
findings were that for improved building
maintenance conditions, efforts should be
made to spread across all the buildings by
both residents of the estates and ESHDC as
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
49
convenience are retained.
Occupied residential buildings, in public
housing estates in Nigeria, have been found to
lack adequate maintenance attention from the
estate managers. Similarly, the infrastructural
facilities are in very poor and deplorable
conditions. A pilot survey of such estates in
Enugu metropolis corroborates these
assertions. There is thus the need for adequate
and affordable buildings and infrastructure
maintenance in ESHDC estates in Enugu
metropolis. The efforts of the Enugu State
Government to achieve sustainable public
housing, has not led to better building
maintenance framework. It would appear that
the adoptive building regulations and tenancy
agreements with residents and contract
agreements with facilities managers are not
being implemented.
It is against this background that this study
examines the major challenges militating
again st bui l ding a nd inf r astruct ure
maintenance conditions in Enugu with a view
to stimulating relevant stakeholders in
designing appropriate strategies for effective
building maintenance in the study area. The
aim of this research is to evaluate the
maintenance conditions of physical elements
of residential buildings in Housing
Development Corporation Estates in Enugu
metropolis with a view to keeping to improved
maintenance guidelines for public residential
buildings.
LITERATURE REVIEW
If all the building elements were of good
quality and built according to international best
practices, from the onset, a building is
expected to last for between fifty to sixty years
before maintenance is required. Hitherto,
Building maintenance is the work undertaken
to keep, restore or improve every building, its
services and infrastructure in an acceptable
liveable standard thereby sustaining the utility
value of the building. This may include
refurbishment to raise the original standards
where appropriate. The ability to upgrade an
existing residential building not only extends
its useful life, but is clearly a more sustainable
option than the process of demolition and
reconstruction as in urban renewal
programmes. The physical environment and
infrastructure of residential buildings dictate
the well-being of man. Hence, maintenance of
buildings,is likened to the last leg of a relay
race and a component of a conclusive phase of
sustainable architecture.
Building maintenance programmes in
Nigeria, have not received desired attention in
the past as the emphasis is on the development
of new facilities by both the facility providers
and the beneficiaries. This approach by the
providers is in the effort to solve the haphazard
rural-urban paradigm that characterise urban
growth in Nigeria. The need for maintenance
commences immediately the buildings are
occupied by users. Many development control
guidelines are in place to let the building
developers remain in tandem with global
standards. Buildings are generally required to
provide safe and conducive environment for
the performance of various human activities.
Odediran, Opatunji, and Eghunure (2012)
stated that the ability of a building to provide
the required environment for an activity is a
measure of its functionality. Therefore as the
components of a building begin to deteriorate,
it becomes necessary to take measures to
ensure that the desired characteristics of that
building, which provides safety and
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
Housing Development Corporation Estates In Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria
discussed below. These authors agreed
commonly on open-ended evaluation, broad
based and multifaceted data gathering
approaches and analysis in distinguishing the
outcome of different building maintenance
strategies in public residential buildings in
housing estates. Waziri and Vanduhe (2013)
listed ten factors that affect defects of public
buildings in Malaysia as lack of building
maintenance, moisture problem from wet areas
leading to leakage, environmental conditions,
aging of the buildings, poor quality control:
preventive methods, lack of training and skills
of maintenance crew, lack of motivation in
taking care of buildings, poor communication
in maintenance process, defective materials
used for maintenance works, and inability to
appreciate the site conditions. These factors
have been identified and ranked according to
their descriptive analysis and applied to
ESHDC residential buildings in Enugu
metropolis.
Most building infrastructure in Nigeria,
whether owned or hired by Government,
corporate bodies or individuals are very poorly
maintained largely due to poor maintenance
culture and relatively high cost of maintenance
(Usman, Gambo & Chen, 2012). Zagreus,
Huizenga, Arens, and Lehrer (2004) pointed
out how important the views of residents are in
investigating the performance of building
components to meet the needs and
expectations of the residents. Gupta and
Chandiwala, (2010) also added that the use of
questionnaires in the evaluation of
performance of residential environment is
based either on researchers' observations or
buildings may become worn-out and require
maintenance a few months after it is occupied
owing to unreliable quality of available
building materials in the market (Olanrewaju,
2011). Odediran, Opatunji, and Eghunure
(2012) stated that the ability of a building to
provide the required environment for an
activity is a measure of its functionality.
Therefore as the components of a building
begin to deteriorate, it becomes necessary to
take measures to ensure that the desired
characteristics of that building are retained.
Zeiler and Boxem (2008) and Meir, Garb, Jiao,
and Cicelsky, (2009) have shown that
s o m e t i m e s o r i g i n a l s t a n d a r d s a n d
specifications do not conform to the ever
changing needs and expectations of residents,
and so users usually seek improved
maintenance conditions of their buildings for
their continued satisfactory use. The ability to
upgrade an existing residential building not
only extends its useful life, but is clearly a
more sustainable option than the process of
demolition and reconstruction as in urban
renewal programmes (Bullen, 2007).
Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of
building maintenance, the purposes for
studying maintenance conditions of
residential buildings differ among
researchers. Hsieh (2008) agreed with
Kantrowitz and Nordhaus (1980) that
maintenance conditions of residential
buildings stemmed from the need to
document the problems of public residential
buildings, develop solutions to them as well as
recommend framework for future public
building maintenance programmes. Issues to
be covered in the review of literature are
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
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different components of their buildings and
infrastructure. Different factors that determine
residents' satisfaction with the building
maintenance in public housing estates in
Nigeria are rare. Fatoye and Odusami (2009)
opined that users' satisfaction with buildings
was related to the performance of public
buildings in housing projects and the existing
studies rarely associated occupants'
satisfaction with the residential building
maintenance in public housing projects in the
country. Hence, this research would attempt to
address residents' continued use of buildings
through building maintenance and the joint
involvement of both providers and
beneficiaries with maintenance. Thus the gap
existing in total involvement of all
stakeholders would be filled.
METHODOLOGY
The research design for this study was survey
design. It focused on public residential
buildings of ESHDC housing estates in Enugu
metropolis. A multistage stratified random
sampling method was adopted in the selection
of the study sample. The first stage of the
stratification involved ESHDC estates based
on the ages of the estates. The total number of
the ESHDC housing estates is 15 as shown in
Table 1. This constitutes the Research
population.
user satisfaction surveys. Vischer (2002)
opined that users give their views and feelings
about buildings-in-use based on their
experience and interactions with buildings.
Preiser (1999), Nawawi and Khalil (2008) and
Chohen, Che-Ani, Memon, Tahir, Abdullah
and Ishak (2010) reported that professionals
design and construct buildings and never use
them and so their views would not be
compared to the views of the residents who
occupy them particularly as it concerns
maintenance. It is observed that in the course
of exploring residential building maintenance,
some researchers adopted questionnaire
surveys to examine residents' satisfaction with
the buildings in public housing estates in
different countries. For example, in Papua,
New Guinea and Abuja, Nigeria, Kaitilla,
(1993) as well as Ukoha and Beamish (1997)
respectively, reported that residents in public
buildings were dissatisfied with the building
features. In contrast, Olatubara and Fatoye
(2007) and Fatoye and Odusami (2009)
revealed that residents in public buildings in
Lagos, Nigeria, were most satisfied with
building design features, including the
number of rooms, the ceiling heights, and the
location of different rooms in their dwelling
units. In Malaysia, cited in Mohit,
Ibrahim and Rashid (2010) found out that
middle income households in Bandar Baru
Bangi, were satisfied with the space and cost
of their buildings, but dissatisfied with the size
of kitchen and plumbing works. These studies
help to explain that occupants of mass-
produced buildings in public housing estates
in Nigeria are satisfied or dissatisfied with the
Oh (2000)
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
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Table 1: ESHDC housing estates in Enugu Metropolis Occupied By 2012 with in date order
Source: Fieldwork, 2015
B. Sampling Frame
Stratified sampling technique was used to first create four columns in accordance with their age
groupings and then select the four estates based on simple balloting. Simple random sampling was
used to select the buildings on streets to interview one resident in one building by choosing the first
building on the street and subsequently any fifth house on the street alternating the two sides of the
street. Balloting was then carried out to choose one housing estate from each stratum based on their
ages (5 to 15; 16 to 25; 26 to 34; and 35 and above) as highlighted on Table 2 resulting in the choice of
Ekulu East, Golf, Republic and Riverside estates respectively. Hence the choice of the four estates
emerged as highlighted in Table 2.
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
Housing Development Corporation Estates In Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria
Table 2: Stratification of occupied Housing Estates by age from which balloting was done.
Source: Field Work, (2015)
C. Sampling Technique
All the buildings had equal chances of being investigated. One household head of any of the chosen
buildings was interviewed. Thus the number of plots/households in the estates were as shown in
Table 3, one hundred and forty two (142) plots/buildings are in Ekulu East Estate. Five hundred and
nine (509) plots/buildings are in Golf Estate Phases I to V. Republic Housing Estate has 273
buildings while eight hundred and twenty one (821) households occupy Riverside Housing Estate
Abakpa Nike, Phases I and II. One thousand seven hundred and forty five (1745) buildings/plots
was the sampling frame. The sample size is the number of copies of questionnaire distributed as
shown on Table 3.
Table 3: Selected Housing Estates of the ESHDC and Available number of units
Source: Fieldwork, 2015
D. Sample Size:
For the purpose of this study, the sample size was determined statistically using the method given
by Taro Yamane (1973) for the calculation of sample size. This gave 326 respondents. Four housing
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
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estates were chosen from stratified sampling to balance the sampling from both old and new, as
new buildings require maintenance as soon as they are occupied and show different levels of
dilapidation. The residents' population distribution for the questionnaire was as follows: Ekulu
East Housing Estate (27), Golf Estate (95), Republic Housing Estate (51), and River Side Estate
(153)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The following are the results of the specific ten variables (V31 to V40) investigated in the study to
gather data on maintenance conditions of the buildings. A composite variable (Maintenance
condition of Buildings) was obtained by computing a mean score variable from these. This was
then used to test the differences between buildings in the different housing estates.
(i) Condition of floor in the house (Variable 15):
It is important in this analysis to appraise the perception of residents on the floor finishes. Greater
number of residents, up to 70%, indicated that the floors were in good maintenance condition. This
is illustrated in Table 6.
Table 6: Aggregated Condition of Floor finishes in the house
Source: Fieldwork, 2018
(ii) Condition of Wall Finishes in the house:
When polled on their perception of the Condition of Wall finishes in the houses, responses from
the residents, showed that 74.4%, which is quite significant, considered the walls in their buildings
as good and very good. Only 25.6% of residents have bad walls. This is illustrated by Table 7
Table 7: Condition of Wall Finishes
Source: Fieldwork, 2018
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
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(iii) Condition of Roof Frames in the house:
The study collected data from respondents at various levels of study of roof frames.
The goal of this is to emphasize the need for adequate roof frames in the stability of
the buildings. The responses from the residents indicate that 91.9% considered the
roof frames as good in their buildings. The percentage is just 13% This is illustrated in
Table 8
Table 8: Condition of Roof Frames
(iv) Condition of Ceiling in the house:
Table 9:Area-wise data on condition of Ceiling
The area-wise data analysis of this variable indicates that most of the ceilings at Ekulu
East and Republic Estates are good. A low percentage of respondents indicate bad
ceiling conditions while high percentages of residents are undecided about the
condition of their ceilings in Golf, Republic and Riverside estates. This illustration is
in Table 9.
Table 9:Area-wise data on condition of Ceiling
Source: Fieldwork, 2018
(v) Maintenance Condition of External Wall in the house (Variable 23):
The area-wise data analysis of this variable indicates that 64.3% of the buildings at
Ekulu East estate have good external walls and as high as 35.7% was bad. Buildings
with good external wall constitute 55.6% of buildings at Golf estate; at Republic
Estate it was 98.3 of the buildings that have good external walls while in Riverside estate
almost half of the buildings have bad external walls. This is illustrated on Table 10.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
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56
(vi) Appraisal of maintenance condition of doors:
Analysis of Doors in the buildings shows that majority of residents disagree that
doors need maintenance. This is shown by the 63.9% of residents who indicated their
disagreement with the need to maintain doors. 19.8% of the residents are undecided
on the situation of their doors. If the research assumes that the doors are relatively
good, majority of the doors are in good condition since the total percentage of good
doors would increase to 83.7%. This is illustrated in Table 11
(vii) Maintenance Condition of outdoor paint of the building (Variable 28):
The area-wise data analysis of this variable indicate that 78.6% of the outdoor paints
of the house are in good maintenance condition in Ekulu East; 80.2% in Golf estate;
81.4% in Republic estate and 71.2% in Riverside Estate hence the general indication
is that outdoor paints are good and very good. This is illustrated on Table 12.
xxix. Condition of indoor paints of the house (Variable 29):
The area-wise data analyses of indoor paints indicate that 92.9% of indoor paints are
in good maintenance condition in Ekulu East; 88.7% at Golf estate; 98.3% in
Republic estate and 97.6% in Riverside estate, hence it can be concluded that indoor
paints are in good maintenance condition. This is illustrated on Table 13
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
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57
Test of hypothesis
ANOVA tests were used to test differences in maintenance conditions of
buildings between and within the estates. The result of the analysis showed a
significant difference value of 0.000 occurs with degree of freedoms of 3 and
356, between and within the estates respectively, mean squares of 6.059 and
0.427 between and within the estates respectively. These are indicated in Table
14.
Table 14: One-way ANOVA analysis test results, showing the differences between
and within ESHDC Estates in Maintenance condition of their buildings in Enugu.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
As a result of the outcomes of the study, the following recommendations are
made to aid the improvement of maintenance framework for public residential
buildings in the study area of Enugu metropolis:
1. Efforts should be made to let all occupants and ESHDC to have more
commitment of resources to maintenance as the research has shown.
2. The management should look into the logistics of organizing maintenance of
the buildings at regular intervals in line with the chosen maintenance periods
(three to five years) as indicated by the respondents and introduce a mechanism
to implement it since the extant regulations are jeopardized by bylaws
introduced by ESHDC. It would appear hypocritical, therefore, to expect all
residents to have equal capacity to improve maintenance conditions at such
given intervals without the coordination of the corporation.
3. It is proposed that the state insurance company arranges to collect premium
from residents and ESHDC, at subsidized rates, towards Maintenance
Management Fund. As the residents/owners pay insurance premiums towards
building and infrastructure maintenance. If this provision was addressed,
maintenance bills would be taken care of more easily by ESHDC as they arise.
4. Training programmes should be introduced to make the occupants, ESHDC
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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58
An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
Housing Development Corporation Estates In Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria
and even interested public get involved with maintenance of mechanical and
plumbing works in the buildings. It is most important when the sewage systems
need urgent attention as soon as the needs arise. The damages are often caused
by the residents' insensitivity to the maintenance conditions owing to
ignorance.
The quest to ensure that public residential buildings provide liveable
conditions for the occupants within their lifespan cannot be achieved without
adequate and regular maintenance. This is because the maintenance process
ensures that the spaces remain secure, healthy, comfortable, safe and
conducive, thus enabling their occupants to carry out life activities. Finding
ways to improve the existing maintenance conditions is therefore imperative as
well as feasible, particularly as relevant catalysts for this have been identified
through research.
The management system adopted by ESHDC is one and needs to be
decentralized for this dependent variable to seek predictors. The different
estates have peculiar demands of maintenance patterns. More staff will be
engaged and the improvement of the maintenance framework would be
achieved from the management systems.
Policy guidelines and integrated action and co-operation of all stakeholders,
(including relevant professionals, ESHDC and residents) involved in the
planning, development and management of public residential building
maintenance in Enugu are recommended. It has been shown statistically (Table
14), that there is significant difference in Maintenance Conditions of residential
buildings in ESHDC estates in Enugu metropolis. This is contrary to the
hypothesis which states that 'there is no significant difference in maintenance
conditions of residential buildings in ESHDC estates in Enugu metropolis'.
5.
6.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
Housing Development Corporation Estates In Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria
REFERENCES
Bullen, PA (2007): 'Adaptive Reuse and Sustainability of Commercial Buildings', Facilities,
vol. 25, no. 1/2, pp. 20-31.
Chohen, A.H. Che-Ani, A.I. Memon, Z. Tahir, M.M Abdullah, N.A.G. Ishak, N.H., (2010).
Development of user's sensitivity index for design faults in low rise urban housing, a study of
development metropolitan city. American Journal of Scientific Research, 12, pp. 113–124
Fatoye, E.O and Odusami, K.T. (2009). Occupants' Satisfaction Approach to Housing
Performance Evaluation: The case of Nigeria. Paper Presented at the RICS COBRA
Research Conference held at the University of Cape Town, 10-11th September, 2009.
Downloaded from www.rics.org/cobra on 22nd February 2010.
Kunya, S.U., Achuenu, E.A. and Kolawale, J.O. (2012). Evaluation of Factors Affecting
Maintenance Expenditures of Federal Tertiary Institution in Nigeria. Construction
Focus. 1(1):98-105
Meir, I.A., Garb, Y., Jiao, D., Cicelsky, A., (2009). Post-occupancy evaluation: an inevitable
Step Toward sustainability. Advances in Building Energy Research 3, 189–220.
Mohit, M.A, Ibrahim, M. & Rashid, Y.R. (2010). Assessment of Residential satisfaction in
newly Designed Public Low-Cost Housing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Habitat
International .Vol. 34, p18-27
Odediran, S.J., Opatunji, O.Y. and Eghnure, F. O. (2012). Maintenance of Residential Buildings:
Users' Practices in Nigeria. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management
Sciences 3(3):261-265
Olanrewaju, A. (2011). Behavioural issues in maintenance of university buildings. Macmillan
Publishers Ltd. 14791110 Journal of Retail & Leisure Property Vol. 9, 5, 415428.
Building Condition Assessment Imperative and Process.
Usman N.D., Gambo M.J. and Chen J.A. (2012). Maintenance culture and its impact on the
Construction of residential buildings in Nigeria: Journal of Environmental Science and
Resources Management, Vol 4
Waziri, B.S, Vanduhe, B.A, (2013). Evaluation of Factors Affecting Residential Building
Maintenance in Nigeria: User's Perspective. Civil and Environmental Research, Vol.3, No.8.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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An Appraisal Of Maintenance Conditions Of Residential Buildings In
Housing Development Corporation Estates In Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria
PHYTOCHEMICALS, PROXIMATE AND MINERAL CONTENT
SCREENING OF CARICA PAPAYA, RIPE AND UNRIPE SEEDS
Ilo U.S. ", Ogbuchi Miriam C.". Njokunwogbu A, N.". Ugwuonah L. A.
a. Industrial Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University, P.M.B
01014, Thinkers Corner, Nigeria.
b. Bioinorganic and Natural Product Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey
Okoye University, PMB 01014, Thinkers Corner, Enugu, Nigeria.
c. Medicinal Chemistry Unit, Chemical Sciences Department, Godfrey Okoye University,
P.M.B. 01014, Thinkers Corner, Enugu, Nigeria.
Correspondents: iuchenna41@gmail.com. 08037720915
analysis showed that moisture
content for ripe seeds is 79.78% and
that for the unripe is 81.26%, Ash
content - 1.267% for ripe, 0.4112%
for unripe seeds. Crude fibre content
for ripe seeds is 3.69% and 0.098%
for the unripe. Protein content for the
ripe seeds is 0.0006% and unripe is
0.0000%. Lipid content for the ripe
seed is 0.18% and unripe 0.26%.
Carbohydrates content for ripe seed is
15.07% and unripe 17.08%. The
results indicates that paw-paw seed
contained high moisture content, low
ash, low Lipid. The seeds also
contained very low protein.
Elemental minerals such as Ca, K,
Mg, Mg, Fe and Zn were found
present both in the ripe and unripe
seeds.
INTRODUCTION
Papaya belongs to a small family
caricaceae having four generalin the
world. The genius carica papaya is
represented by four species in India
of which carica papaya is the most
ABSTRACT
The seeds of paw-paw (Carica
papaya) are usually thrown away
during preparation of paw-paw fruit.
Apart from being edible fruit, the
Carica papaya have served at various
levels in the management of some
human ailments. Different parts of
the plant are used to treat several
diseases such as malaria, diabetes,
ulcer and skin diseases. This study is
a i m e d a t i n v e s t i g a ti n g t h e
phytochemicals, proximate and
mineral content of ripe and unripe
seeds of Carica papaya. Extracts
from the seeds obtained from 9th
mile corner, Udi L G A. Enugu were
evaluated using standard methods.
Phytochemical screening of the
extracts of the seeds showed that
unripe seeds of Carica papaya have
higher percentage composition of
glycosides (0.116%) then the ripe
seeds (0.00561%). Alkaloid ontent
for ripe seed is 0.118% and the unripe
(0.00530%). Saponin content for the
ripe seed is 5.355% and the unripe
9.329%. The result of the proximate
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
61
colleagues in Japan has documented
papaya's powerful anti-cancer
properties and its impact on
numerous lab-grown tumours.
Papaya seeds contain fatty acids,
crude fibre, crude protein, papaya oil,
carpaine, caricen, gluco-tropaeolin,
benzyl isothiocynate, etc. Papaya is
available throughout the year and is
considered a powerhouse of nutrients
(Aranvid et al, 2013). All the
nutrients of papaya as a whole
improve cardiovascular systems,
protect against heart diseases, heart
attacks, strokes and prevent colon
cancer (Megan,2017).
According to Aranvid et al, the fruit is
an excellent source of beta carotene
that prevents damage caused by free
radicals that may cause some forms
of cancer. Papaya helps in the
digestion of protein as it is a rich
source of proteolytic enzymes.
Papain, a digestive enzyme found in
papaya can be extracted, dried as a
powder and used as an aid in
digestion. The unripe fruit is used as a
remedy for ulcer and impotence
(Elizabeth, 1994). The fruit is used as
a remedy for abdominal disorders
Ayoola and Adeyeye (2010),
examined the phytochemical and
nutrient content of papaya leaves, the
study revealed the presence of
phytochemicals in them which makes
papaya leaves a potential anti malaria
widely cultivated and best known
specie (Jean et al, 2011). It is
commonly known as papaya melon
tree, pawpaw or papau, kapaya
lapaya,papyas, papye. Tapayas,
Fanmugua, Papita, Arand -kharpuja,
P a p a y a b a u n a n d p a p a y a
( B h a t t a c h r j c e , 2 0 0 1 ) . T h e
taxonomical classification includes
K i n g d o m ( p l a n t a e ) , O r d e r
(brasscales), Family (caricaceae)
Genus (carica) and Species (papaya).
Papaya is an herbaceous succulent
plant that possess self-supporting
stems. The papaya is a native of
North-America and has spread to
several regions of the world and its
largest producers are India, Brazil,
Mexico, and Nigeria. It is well
distributed in most of the tropical
countries. It is generally found in
tropical zones of the planet as it
thrives in hot humid frost free
climates Papaya plant is considered a
tree, though its palm-like trunk, up to
8 meters tall, the tree is covered by
deeply lobed leaves (Chan-Prove et
al, 2010). The internal cavity of the
fruit contain numerous black seeds,
e d i b l e s p i c y c o a t e d w i t h
mucilaginous substance and it
comprises about 15% weight of the
fruit (Burla Sunitha et al, 2018).
A study conducted by the University
of Florida researchers Nan Dang and
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Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
fertility, anti-implantation and
abortifacient properties of extracts
from papaya ripe seeds. Papaya ripe
seeds are also used to produce
indigenous Nigerian food condiment
called Daddawa, the house word for
fermented condiment (Dakare,
2004). Athelminthic activity of
papaya seeds have been attributed to
t h e p r e s e n c e o f c a p a i n
andcarpasemine. This study is aimed
at investigating the phytochemical,
proximate and mineral content of ripe
and unripe papaya seeds in order to
explore more of its medicinal
potentials.
Materials and Methods
Sample preparation
The ripe and unripe pulps of paw paw
(carica papaya) were purchased from
a local farm at ninth mile corner
Ngwo in Enugu State. The pulps were
transported to the laboratory where
they were cut and seeds of ripe and
unripe papaya were collected and
stored in different sample tubes for
preparation. Fresh seeds were
blended and stored in sterilized
laboratory tubes from where samples
were collected for analysis.
Phytochemical Analysis
The phytochemical screening of
extracts of samples was done using
methods described by J B Harbone
(1984).
agent. The study also shows that the
yellow leaves are equally used as anti
anaemic agent while the brown
leaves can be effective as a body
cleanser. Juice from papaya root is
used to ease urinary troubles in some
countries.
A decoction formed by boiling the
outer part of the roots of the tree
helps in the cure of dyspepsia.
Papaya seeds are very pungent and
peppery, making them most
unpalatable, however the seeds seem
to have more potent medicinal values
than the flesh. Papaya seeds are rich
in fibre. They keep our digestion on
track, thus helping in the rernoval of
toxins from our body .Carica papaya
seeds have been confirmed in many
studies for their anthelminthic
properties against nematodes found
in animals (Chota, 2010).
Papaya seeds possess several
pharmacological activities including
ant h e lmi n thic , a n ti- f ert i l ity,
contraceptive, anti-inflammatory,
analge s i c a n d a n t i microbi a l
properties (Agarwal et al, 2016).
Other pharmacological uses of the
s e e d s i n c l u d e c a r m i n a t i v e ,
emmenagogue, abortifacient,
counter irritant, and anti-fertility
agent in males. Seed juice can be
used to treat bleeding, piles and in
large liver and spleen (Roshan et al,
2014).
Chinoy et al, 2006 proved the anti-
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
crude, fiber and carbohydrate. The
moisture was determined using the
procedures in AOAC (1993). protein
level was determined by Kjeldahl
method, according to association of
analytical chemists AOAC (1995).
The ash was determined by
calcinations at 600°C according to
official methods and recommended
practices of the American oil
chemists' society AOAC (1993). The
lipids were extracted using soxhlet
with petroleum ether at 60°C
according to AOAC(1993).Total
fiber were determined according to
the method of Porsley et al.
Carbohydrate was determined by
Difference % Carbohydrate=100 -
(% Ash+ % Fibre+ % Moisture+ %
Protein+ % Fat).
Mineral Analysis
The analysis of selected minerals
were determined using methods of
AOAC (2000). Calcium, potassium,
iron, zinc and magnesium were
determined by atomic absorption
spectrophotometric methods.
1.0g of the prepared samples were
first digested with 5ml of acid
mixture (40 % Hydrofluoric acid)
and 5 drops of sulphuric acid were
added using a plastic pipette or
measuring cylinder in a platinum
crucible. The fume was evaporated
to dryness on a hot plate .The
procedure were repeated until the
sample is completely decomposed.
The residues were extracted with
diluents and transferred quantitatively
to a 200ml volumetric flask. The
solutions were diluted to a volume
w i t h d i l u e n t s . P o t a s s i u m ,
magnesium, calcium and sodium
w e r e d e t e r m i n e d b y f l a m e
photometric method, while iron and
zinc were determined by atomic
absorption spectrophotometric
method.
Proximate Analysis
T h i s a n a l y s i s i n v o l v e s t h e
determination of the percentage
constituents of the following
parameters. Moisture content, ash
content, fat content, protein content
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
64
Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
C Lead acctate test - -
A Salkowski test - -
B Sterod
a - -
b - -
c - -
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
screening are presented in table 4.3.
The phytochemical analysis were
carried out on prepared sample
extracts of ripe and unripe pawpaw
seeds to ascertain the presence of the
phytochemical components present
in the respective seeds. Tannins and
terpenoids were present in extract of
unripe seeds. According to David
(1983), saponins have expectorant
action through stimulation of a reflex
of the upper digestive tract. Saponins
also reduces blood cholesterol by
preventing its re absorption. They
also possess antitumor and anti-
mutagenic activities and can lower
the risk of cancer in human by
preventing cancer cells from growing
(Esan 2014). The presence of tannins
showed that the extract is rich in
polyphenolic compounds these are
antioxidants which could prevent
cellular damage.
The results in the analysis to
determine the metabolites, results
show that the unripe pawpaw seeds
has higher number of positive results
than the ripe pawpaw seed indicating
higher presence of the metabolites
examined, Hence from the results of
the analysis shown in primary
metabolites the ripe pawpaw seed has
the higher positive than the unripe
pawpaw seed while in secondary
metabolites the unripe pawpaw seed
has the higher positive results than
the ripe pawpaw seed.
The results of some selected mineral
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The proximate composition of ripe
and unripe pawpaw seed have been
studied and are presented in table 2 as
seen above. The moisture content of
the both seed was 77.188% for ripe
pawpaw and 81.262% for unripe
seeds this implies that the moisture
content of the both seeds are high and
can reduce the shelf life of the seeds
as reported by Puangrsi et al. The ash
content indicates level of mineral
content of the seeds. The ash also
represents the presence of organic
materials from where mineral
contents could be obtained while the
crude fiber indicates that the seeds
contain a portion of cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin which help
in the maintenance of human health
and has been known to reduce
cholesterol level in the body. High
fiber foods are effective anti-
constipation agents. Fiber also
reduces the risks of various cancers,
bowel diseases and improves general
health and well-being of individual,
The pawpaw unripe seeds show a
high percentage of lipid and
carbohydrates than the ripe seeds
which implies that it can be
considered as a potential source of
carbohydrate for energy. It is a
potential raw material for feed
formulation since it can aid good
bowl movement and improves
absorption, (Onwuka, 2005).
The results of the phytochemical
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
68
Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
Carica Papaya, Ripe And Unripe Seeds.
values obtained in this present work
is in agreement with those reported in
similar works as seen in Brown K. H,
et al, 1993 and Oluyemi E A et al,
2006.
CONCLUSION
The phytochemicals, proximate and
mineral composition of ripe and
unripe pawpaw seeds have been
evaluated in this study. It was
observed in this study that these seeds
which are often disposed, causing
environmental problems contained
essential nutrients that can be user
human and animals. These seeds'
extract are applicable as counter
irritant carminative, and can be used
as an antifertility agent.
contents of both the ripe and unripe
seeds are shown in table 4.2, the
result shows that the ripe pawpaw
seed have higher mineral contents
than the unripe, minerals like
calcium which helps keep the bone
and teeth strong, also body cell uses
calcium to activate certain enzymes
and help to transport ions across the
cellular membrane. It also plays a
key role in maintaining the regular
heart-beat. The presence of these
ions is important in the diet of
pregnant women, nursing mothers,
infants, convulsing patients and
elderly people to prevent anemia and
other related diseases. The mineral
contents of some commonly
consumed Nigeria foods and the
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Harbone J. (1993) Phytochemical Methods. Harpmand and Hall LTD London. Pp49-60.
L.K. (2010). A Comparative Study of Efficacy of piperazine and Carica papaya for a control of
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Lohiya, N, K, Manivanna, B, Garg, S, (2006). Toxicological investigations on the methanol sub-
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Marotta F, Weksler, M, Naino, Y, Yoshida, C, Yoshioka, M, Marandola, P, (2006). Nutracultical
supplemention, effect of a fermented papaya preparation on rodex status and DNA damage in
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the role of aspirate 158 in catalytic mechanism of papain. Biochemistry.29:6706-6713.
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Phytochemicals, Proximate And Mineral Content Screening Of
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RANDOM FOREST HYPERPARAMETER TUNING IN MACHINE
LEARNING FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN INTRUSION
DETECTION SYSTEMS
1 2 3 4
Amaku Amaku , Olumide Owolabi , Agbogun B. Joshua , Bamidele, Oluchi Jennie
1 Department of Computer Science, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State, Nigeria.
2 Department of Computer Sciences, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.
3 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Godfrey Okoye University,
Enugu State, Nigeria.
4 Computer Science Programme, National Mathematical Centre, Kwali, Abuja.
– amaku@gouni.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
In recent times, researchers have been proposing different Intrusion Detection
methods to deal with the increasing number and complexity of threats as
technology keeps emerging. In this context, Random Forest models have been
providing a notable performance on her predictive capacity to applications in
the realm of behavioural-based Intrusion Detection Systems and other related
fields of specialization which includes medicines, Banking, commerce, etc in
terms high magnitude forecasting and optimal predictions . In this work, in-
depth evaluation analysis of the Random Forest tuning were carried out with
respect to classification, feature selection, and proximity metrics. This
empirical research will provide an inclusive review of the general basic
concepts related to Intrusion Detection Systems, which includes taxonomies,
data collection, modeling and evaluation metrics. Furthermore, the manual
hyperparameter tuning technique was used for this research work and a
desirable experimental output was achieved as showed in this work.
Key Words: Random Forest, Machine Learning, Optimization,
Hyperparamenters, Classification, Evaluation Metrics.
1. INTRODUCTION
MACHINE LEARNING
Machine learning (ML) algorithms have been widely used in many
applications domains, including advertising, recommendation systems,
computervision, natural language processing, and user behavior analytics
(Jordan & Michell,2015). This is because they are generic and
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demonstrate high performance in data analytics problems. Different ML
algorithms are suitable for different types of problems or datasets (Ziler
& Huber,2019). In general, building an effective machine learning model
is a complex and time-consuming process that involves determining the
appropriate algorithm and obtaining an optimal model architecture by
tuning its hyper-parameters (HPs) (Shawi ,et al,2019). Two types of
parameters exist in machine learning models: one that can be initialized
and updated through the data learning process (e.g., the weights of
neurons in neural networks), named model parameters; while the other,
named hyper-parameters, cannot be directly estimated from data learning
and must be set before training a ML model because they define the
architecture of a ML model (Kuhn & John, 2013). Hyper-parameters are
the parameters that are used to either configure a ML model (e.g., the
penalty parameter C in a support vector machine, and the learning rate to
train a neural network) or to specify the algorithm used to minimize the
loss function (e.g., the activation function and optimizer types in a neural
network, and the kernel type in a support vector machine) (Diaz et al,
2017). To build an optimal ML model, a range of possibilities must be
explored. The process of designing the ideal model architecture with an
optimal hyper-parameter configuration is named hyper-parameter
tuning. Tuning hyper-parameters is considered a key component of
building an effective ML model, especially for tree-based ML models
and deep neural networks, which have many hyper-parameters (Hutter et
al,2019). Hyper-parameter tuning process is different among different
ML algorithms due to their different types of hyper- parameters,
including categorical, discrete, and continuous hyper-parameters
(Decastro-Garca et al,2019). Manual testing is a traditional way to tune
hyper-parameters and is still prevalent in graduate student research,
although it requires a deep understanding of the used ML algorithms and
their hyper-parameter value settings (Abreu, 2019). However, manual
tuning is ineffective for many problems due to certain factors, including a
large number of hyper-parameters, complex models, time consuming
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model evaluations, and non-linear hyper-parameter interactions. These
factors have inspired increased research in techniques for automatic
optimization of hyper-parameters; so-called hyper-parameter
optimization. (HPO) (Steinholtz,2018). The main aim of HPO is to
automate hyper-parameter tuning process and make it possible for users
to apply machine learning models to practical problems effectively
(Shawi ,et al,2019). The optimal model architecture of a ML model is
expected to be obtained after a HPO process. Some important reasons for
applying HPO techniques to ML models are as follows (Hutter et
al,2019):
2. 1. It reduces the human effort required, since many ML developers
spend considerable time tuning the hyper-parameters, especially for
large datasets or complex ML algorithms with a large number of
hyper-parameters.
2. It improves the performance of ML models. Many ML hyper-
parameters have different optimums to achieve best performance in
different datasets or problems.
3. It makes the models and research more reproducible. Only when the
same level of hyper-parameter tuning process is implemented can
different ML algorithms be compared fairly; hence, using a same HPO
method on different ML algorithms also helps to determine the most
suitable ML model for a specific problem.
It is crucial to select an appropriate optimization technique to detect
optimal hyper-parameters. Traditional optimization techniques may be
unsuitable for HPO problems, since many HPO problems are non-
convex or non-differentiable optimization problems, and may result in
a local instead of a global optimum (Lou, 2016). Gradient descent-
based methods are a common type of traditional optimization
algorithm that can be used to tune continuous hyper-parameters by
calculating their gradients (Maclaurin et al, 2015). For example, the
learning rate in a neural network can be optimized by a gradient-based
method. Compared with traditional optimization methods like gradient
descent, many other optimization techniques are more suitable for
HPO problems, including decision-theoretic approaches, Bayesian
optimization models, multifidelity optimization techniques, and
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metaheuristics algorithms (Decastro-Garca et al,2019). Apart from
detecting continuous hyper-parameters, many of these algorithms also
have the capacity to effectively identify discrete, categorical, and
conditional hyper-parameters. Decision-theoretic methods are based on
the concept of defining a hyper-parameter search space and then
detecting the hyper-parameter combinations in the search space,
ultimately selecting the best-performing hyper-parameter combination.
3. Bergstra et al, 2019 concluded that Grid search (GS) is a decision-
theoretic approach that involves exhaustively searching for a fixed
domain of hyper-parameter values. . James & Yoshua,2019 also
discussed Random search (RS) as another decision-theoretic method
that randomly selects hyper-parameter combinations in the search
space, given limited execution time and resources. In GS and RS, each
hyper-parameter configuration is treated independently.
1.2 DECISION TREE
Decision Tree is a graphical representation of all possible solutions to a
decision, decision tree is based on some conditions and it can be easily be
explained. It represents a function that takes as Input a vector of attribute
values and returns a “decision” – a single output value.
Decision tree is a flow-chart-like tree structure that uses a branching method
to illustrate every possible outcome of a decision. Each node within the tree
represents a test on a specific variable- and each branch is the outcome of that
test. It is also a simple flowchart that selects labels for input values.
This flowchart consists of decision nodes, which check feature values, and leaf
nodes, which assign labels. To choose the label for an input value, we begin at
the flowchart's initial decision nodes, known as its roots node. This node
contains a condition that checks one of the input value's features, and selects a
branch based on that features value. Following the branch that describes our
input value, we arrive at a new decision node, with a new condition on the input
value's features. We continue following the branch selected by each node's
condition, until we arrive at a leaf node which provides a label for the input
value. Decision tree algorithm falls under the category of supervise learning.
They can be used to solve both regression and classification problems. A
decision tree reaches its decision by performing a sequence of tests.
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For Example
Figure 1.1 Decision Tree Learning Algorithm
ID ( Iterative Dichotomies 3)
3
ØID is on of the most common decision tree algorithm.
3
ØDichotomies means dividing into two completely opposite things.
ØAlgorithm iterative divides attribute into two groups are the most
dominant attribute and others to construct a tree.
ØThen, it calculate the Entropy and information gain of each attribute. In
this way, the most dominant attribute can be founded.
ØAfter then, the most dominant one is put on the tree as decision node.
For
ØEntropy and gain scores would be calculated again among the other
attributes.
ØProcedure continues until reaching a decision for that branch.
Formulas:
Entropy(s) = ª – P(I) . LogP (I) ………………………….………….…….. (1)
2
Gain (S,A) = Entropy(s) – ª [P(S/A) . Entropy (S/A)] -------------------------- (2)
A decision tree is also a simple flowchart that selects labels for input values.
This flowchart consists of decision nodes, which check feature values, and leaf
nodes, which assign labels. To choose the label for an input value, we begin at
the flowchart's initial decision nodes, known as its roots node. This node
contains a condition that checks one of the input value's features, and selects a
branch based on that features value. Following the branch that describes our
input value, we arrive at a new decision node, with a new condition on the input
value's features. We continue following the branch selected by each node's
condition, until we arrive at a leaf node which provides a label for the input
value.
Once we have a decision tree, it is straightforward to use it to assign labels to
new input values. What's less straightforward is how we can build a decision
tree that models a given training set. But before we look at the learning
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algorithm for building decision tress, we'll consider a simpler task: picking the
best “decision stump” for a corpus.
A decision stump is a decision tree with a single node that decides how to
classify inputs based on a single feature. It contains one leaf for each possible
feature value, specifying the class label that should be assigned to inputs whose
features have that value. In order to build a decision stump, we must first decide
which features should be used. The simplest method is to just build a decision
stump for each possible feature, and see which one achieves the highest
accuracy on the training data, although there are other alternatives that we will
discuss later. Once we've picked a feature, we can build the decision stump by
assigning a label to each based on the most frequently for the selected examples
in the training set (i.e. the examples where the selected feature has that value).
Given the algorithm for choosing decision stumps, the algorithm for growing
larger decision tress is straightforward. We begin by selecting the overall best
decision stump for the classification task. We then check the accuracy of each of
the leaves on the training set. Leaves that do not achieve sufficient accuracy are
then replaced by new decision stumps, trained on the subset of the training
corpus that is selected by the path to the leaf.
1.3 Entropy and information Gain
There are several methods for identifying the most informative feature for a
decision stump. One popular alternative called information gain, measures
how much more organized the input values become when we divide them up
using a given feature. How disorganized the original set of input values are, we
calculate entropy of their labels, which will be high if the input values have
highly varied labels, and how if many input values all have the same label. In
particular, entropy is defined as the sum of the probability of each label times
the log probability of that same label:
H = ? P (l) * log P (l). …………………….................………………. (3)
l ? labels 2
For example, Figure above shows how the entropy of labels in the weather
prediction task depends on the ratio of sunny to outcast to raining attributes
names. Note that if
Most input values have the same label (e.g., if P(sunny) is near 0 or near 1), then
entropy is low. In particular, labels that have low frequency do not contribute
much to the entropy (since P(l) is small), and labels with high frequency also do
not contribute much to the entropy (since log P(l) is small). On the other hand, if
2
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the input values have a wide variety of labels, then there are many labels with a
“medium” frequency, where neither P(l) nor log P(l) is small, so the entropy is high.
2
Once we have calculated the entropy of the label of the original set of input
values, we can determine how much more organized the labels become once we
apply the decision stump. To do so, we calculate the entropy for each of the
decision stump's leaves, and take the average of those leaf entropy values
(weighed by the number of samples in each leaf). The information gain is then
equal to the original entropy minus this new reduced entropy. The higher the
information gain, the better job the decision stump does of dividing the input
values into coherent groups, so we can build decision trees by selecting the
decision stumps with the highest information gain.
Another consideration for decision tree is efficiency. The simple algorithm for
selecting decision stumps described earlier must construct a weather decision
stump for every possible feature, and this process must be repeated for every
node in the constructed decision tree. A number of algorithms have been
developed to cut down on the training time by storing and reusing information
about previously evaluated examples.
However, decision trees also has a few disadvantages. One problem is that,
since each branch in the decision tree splits the training data, the amount of
training data available to train nodes lower in the tree can become quite small.
As a result, these lower decision nodes may overfit the training set, learning
patterns that reflect idiosyncrasies of the training set rather than linguistically
significant patterns in the underlying problem. One solution to this problem is
to stop diving nodes once the amount of training data becomes too small.
Another solution is to grow a full decision tree, but then to prune decision
nodes that do not improve performance on a dev-test.
A second problem with decision trees is that they force features to be checked in
a specific order, even when features may act relatively independently of one
another. For example, when classifying documents into topics (such as a sports,
automotive, or murder mystery), features such as has word (football) are highly
indicating of a specific label, regardless of what the other feature value are.
Since there is limited space near the top of the decision tree, most of these
features will need to be repeated on many different branches in the tree. And
since the number of branches increases exponentially as we go down the tree,
the amount of repetition can be very large.
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A related problem is the decision trees are not good at making use of features
that re weak predictors of the correct label. Since these features make relatively
small incremental improvements, they tend to occur very low in the decision
tree. But by the time the decision tree learner has descended far enough to use
these features, there is not enough training data left to reliable determine what
effect they should have. If we could instead look at the effect of these features
across the entire training set, then we might be able to make some conclusions
about how they should affect the choice of label.
The face that decision trees require that features be checked in a specific order
limits their ability to exploit features that are relatively independent of one
another.
Computer security is the ability to protect a computer system and its
resources in reference to Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (Urasva,
2015). The main goal of any Intrusion Detection System is to detect attacks.
Random forests (Breiman, 2001) are considered as one of the most successful
general-purpose algorithms in modern-times (Biau and Scornet, 2016). They
can be applied to a wide range of learning tasks, but most prominently to
classification and regression. A random forest is an ensemble of trees, where the
construction of each tree is random. After building an ensemble of trees, the
random forest makes predictions by averaging the predictions of individual
trees. Random forests often make accurate and robust predictions, even for
very high-dimensional problems (Biau, 2012), in a variety of applications
(Criminisi and Shotton, 2013; Belgiu and Dr¢agut¸, 2016; D´ýaz-Uriarte and
Alvarez de Andr´es, 2006). Recent theoretical works have established a series
of consistency results of different variants of random forests, when the forests'
parameters are tuned in certain ways (Scornet, 2016;Scornet et al., 2015; Biau,
2012; Biau et al., 2008).Random forest has nearly the same hyperparameters
as a decision tree or a bagging classifier. Furthermore, knowing the attacks and
how they are classified is important to enable better comprehension and critical
analysis. In Table 1 represent the first dimension of the attack taxonomy
proposed by Hansman and Hunt (2005), which is used in other works (e.g.,
Bhuyan et al. (2014), Ghorbani et al. (2010), and Sperotto et al. (2010)) and
provides a good understanding about attacks on networks.
In the literature, there are a variety of attack taxonomies devoted to specific
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major attack types or attacked systems or protocols, such as DDoS attacks
(Mirkovic and Reiher 2004), cloud systems (Juliadotter and Choo 2015; Mishra
et al. 2017), web applications (Alvarez and Petrovic 2003; Watson 2007),
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems (Zhu et al. 2011),
protocol DNP3 that is usually used in SCADA systems (East et al. 2009), P2P
communication (Yue et al. 2009), embedded systems (Papp et al. 2015), botnets
(Dagon et al. 2007), and the Internet infrastructure, for example, attacks on the
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) used for routing in the Internet (Chakrabarti
and Manimaran 2002). Taxonomies also can be oriented to attack response
(Souissi and Serhrouchni 2014; Wu et al. 2011), target systems, causes, impact,
time, among other characteristics. In 2008, Igure and Williams had explored on
classical attacks on taxonomies.
RESEARCH DESIGN
This research work deals with an optimization of behavioral based random
forest algorithm as a machine learning tool in intrusion detection systems. The
research methodology will effectively discuss possible directions which this
research work will take in order to achieve its objectives. The detailed
information on the process involved in data acquisition will be presented also.
Hyperparameters are important for machine learning algorithms since they
directly control the behaviors of training algorithms and have a significant
effect on the performance of machine learning models. Several techniques have
been developed and successfully applied for certain application domains. This
research work has proposed a technique which will improve a dataset's data
content by translating it into a brand new feature subspace of lower
dimensionality than the original. Normally machine learning algorithm
transforms a problem that needs to be solved into an optimization problem and
uses different optimization methods to solve the problem. The optimization
function is composed of multiple hyperparameters that are set prior to the
learning process and affect algorithm performance of the model.
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The Info on dataset used is given below:
<class 'pandas.core.frame.DataFrame'>
RangeIndex: 125973 entries, 0 to 125972
Data columns (total 42 columns):
# Column Non-Null Count Dtype
--- ------ -------------- -----
0 'duration' 125973 non-null int64
1 'protocol_type' 125973 non-null object
2 'service' 125973 non-null object
3 'flag' 125973 non-null object
4 'src_bytes' 125973 non-null int64
5 'dst_bytes' 125973 non-null int64
6 'land' 125973 non-null int64
7 'wrong_fragment' 125973 non-null int64
8 'urgent' 125973 non-null int64
9 'hot' 125973 non-null int64
10 'num_failed_logins' 125973 non-null int64
11 'logged_in' 125973 non-null int64
12 'num_compromised' 125973 non-null int64
13 'root_shell' 125973 non-null int64
14 'su_attempted' 125973 non-null int64
15 'num_root' 125973 non-null int64
16 'num_file_creations' 125973 non-null int64
17 'num_shells' 125973 non-null int64
18 'num_access_files' 125973 non-null int64
19 'num_outbound_cmds' 125973 non-null int64
20 'is_host_login' 125973 non-null int64
21 'is_guest_login' 125973 non-null int64
22 'count' 125973 non-null int64
23 'srv_count' 125973 non-null int64
24 'serror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
25 'srv_serror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
26 'rerror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
27 'srv_rerror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
28 'same_srv_rate' 125973 non-null float64
29 'diff_srv_rate' 125973 non-null float64
30 'srv_diff_host_rate' 125973 non-null float64
31 'dst_host_count' 125973 non-null int64
32 'dst_host_srv_count' 125973 non-null int64
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33 'dst_host_same_srv_rate' 125973 non-null float64
34 'dst_host_diff_srv_rate' 125973 non-null float64
35 'dst_host_same_src_port_rate' 125973 non-null float64
36 'dst_host_srv_diff_host_rate' 125973 non-null float64
37 'dst_host_serror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
38 'dst_host_srv_serror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
39 'dst_host_rerror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
40 'dst_host_srv_rerror_rate' 125973 non-null float64
41 'class' 125973 non-null object
dtypes: float64(15), int64(23), object(4)
memory usage: 40.4+ MB
Following the collection of data obtained, the data collected was checked for the
presence of error in data entry including misspellings and missing data. Following
this process, there was no error in misspelling of any data in the record.
HANDLING MISSING VALUE (This is to check which feature contains missing
values
print (df.isnull().sum())
'duration' 0
'protocol_type' 0
'service' 0
'flag' 0
'src_bytes' 0
'dst_bytes' 0
'land' 0
'wrong_fragment' 0
'urgent' 0
'hot' 0
'num_failed_logins' 0
'logged_in' 0
'num_compromised' 0
'root_shell' 0
'su_attempted' 0
'num_root' 0
'num_file_creations' 0
'num_shells' 0
'num_access_files' 0
'num_outbound_cmds' 0
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Random Forest Hyperparameter Tuning In Machine Learning For
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7 Evaluation Metrics
The evaluation metrics generated from this research work is given below;
Parameter distribution of random forest used for the randomized search
# Number of trees to use for building the random forest
n_estimators = [int(x) for x in np.linspace(start = 10, stop = 80, num = 10)]
# Number of features to consider at every split
max_features = ['auto', 'sqrt']
# Maximum number of levels in tree
max_depth = [2,4]
# Minimum number of samples required to split a node
min_samples_split = [2, 5]
# Minimum number of samples required at each leaf node
min_samples_leaf = [1, 2]
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criterion =['gini', 'entropy']
# Method of selecting samples for training each tree
bootstrap = [True, False]
Parameter distribution code
# Create the param grid
param_grid = {'n_estimators': n_estimators,
'max_features': max_features,
'max_depth': max_depth,
'min_samples_split': min_samples_split,
'min_samples_leaf': min_samples_leaf,
'criterion' :criterion,
'bootstrap': bootstrap}
print(param_grid)x
OPTIMISED HYPERPARAMETER TUNNING OF RANDOM FOREST
CLASSIFIER RESULT
Cross Validation at 10 fold fitting 10 folds for each of 10 candidates, totalling 100
fits Randomized Search CV(cv=10, estimator=RandomForestClassifier(),
n_jobs=4,
param_distributions={'bootstrap':
[True, False],
'criterion': ['gini', 'entropy'],
'max_depth': [2, 4],
'max_features': ['auto', 'sqrt'],
'min_samples_leaf': [1, 2],
'min_samples_split': [2, 5],
'n_estimators': [10, 17, 25, 33, 41, 4856, 64, 72, 80]},
verbose=2)
Best Parameter Result Generated From the Parameter Range Provided
rf_RandomGrid.best_params_
{'n_estimators': 72,
'min_samples_split': 5,
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'min_samples_leaf': 2,
'max_features': 'sqrt',
'max_depth': 4,
'criterion': 'entropy',
'bootstrap': True}
Optimized Hyperparameter Tuning Of Random Forest Classifier Result
Train Accuracy - : 97.833%
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS RESULT WITH OTHER RELATED MACHINE
LEARNING ALGORITHM
The optimized value (accuracy) obtained from this research work is later
compared with other algorithm. The results is shown below
Naive Bayes Algorithm Result
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
X_train,X_test,y_train,y_test=train_test_split(X,y,test_size=0.2,random_state=9)
#Split the dataset
from sklearn.naive_bayes import GaussianNB
nv = GaussianNB() # create a classifier
nv.fit(X_train,y_train) # fitting the data
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
y_pred = nv.predict(X_test) # store the prediction data
#accuracy_score(y_test,y_pred) # calculate the accuracy
print("Accuracy of Naive Bayes Algorithm is :
{}".format(accuracy_score(y_test,y_pred)*100))
Accuracy of Naive Bayes Algorithm is : 52.92716808890653
Logistic Regression
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
from sklearn.linear_model import LogisticRegression
from sklearn.metrics import classification_report, confusion_matrix
model = LogisticRegression(solver='liblinear', random_state=0)
model.fit(X, y)
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LogisticRegression(C=1.0, class_weight=None, dual=False, fit_intercept=True,
intercept_scaling=1, l1_ratio=None, max_iter=100,
multi_class='warn', n_jobs=None, penalty='l2',
random_state=0, solver='liblinear', tol=0.0001, verbose=0,
warm_start=False)
model = LogisticRegression(solver='liblinear', random_state=0).fit(X, y)
model.predict(X)
model.score(X, y)*100
Accuracy: 88.57215435053544
RANDOM FOREST CLASSIFIER
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestClassifier
from sklearn.metrics import confusion_matrix
from sklearn.metrics import classification_report
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
rf=RandomForestClassifier(n_estimators=50,min_samples_leaf=0.2,random_state=42)
rf.fit(X_train,y_train)
pred=rf.predict(X_test)
print("Accuracy of Random Forest model is :
{}".format(accuracy_score(y_test,pred)*100))
Accuracy of Random Forest model is : 91.82
SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size =0.2)
from sklearn.svm import SVC
svclassifier = SVC(kernel='rbf', degree=8)
svclassifier.fit(X_train, y_train)
y_pred = svclassifier.predict(X_test)
from sklearn.metrics import classification_report, confusion_matrix
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
print("Accuracy of the Support Vector Machine model is :
{}".format(accuracy_score(y_test,y_pred )*100))
Accuracy of the Support Vector Machine model is : 53.70
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DISCUSSION ON TABLE 1
This section of experiment was carried out with selected numbers of
hyperparameter values which included the numbers of estimators, minimum
sample leaf and random state, results of the experiments clearly stated below
the table. When the value of the estimator was set at 500, Min. Sample leaf 300
and Random state 250, it was observed the performance in outcome with
respect to accuracy declined, which implies that the greater the numbers of
trees on the nodes, the less predictive the accuracy of the outcome. It was also
observed that when the estimators value was set on 5, Min. Sample leaf 2 and
Random state at 3, the efficiency on the outcome was greatly achieved.
This is just a phase testing of my model to check for correctness on predictive
purpose, and this is also a manual phase on my software module.
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The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
GREEN SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING
GONGRONEMA LATIFOLIUM AQUEOUS
Leaves Extract and their Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Properties
By
1 1 2 3
Eugene L.Ayuk , Precious C.Omeoga , Timothy O.Oni , & Peace I. Ebiem- Kenechukwu
1 &1
Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies,
Godfrey Okoye University, P.M.B. 01014 Thinkers Corner Enugu, Nigeria
2
Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-uku, Nigeria
3
Dept. of Materials and Energy Technology Projects Development Institute (PRODA) Enugu
Corresponding Authors: Eugene L. Ayuk
Email:eugeneayuk@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The synthesis of nanomaterials is very important in developing novel substances
with potential therapeutic effects. Significant advancements have been made in the
improvement of the synthetic methods. This research was directed at synthesizing
silver nanoparticles (AgNps) via the biological method which is eco-friendlyand
investigating their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The leaf extracts of
Gongronema latifolium, were used to synthesize silver nanoparticlesby reducing
+ 0
silver ions (Ag ) to silver metal (Ag ). The synthesized silver nanoparticles were
characterized via UV-visible, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Scanning electron
microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX)spectroscopic analyses
respectively. The SEM result revealed the morphology of the synthesized AgNps as a
spherical particles with a diameter range40-50 nm. The UV spectra showed peaks
at424nm which is characteristic of AgNps. The EDX analysis showed a strong silver
signal with 4.32 keV in addition to other weak signals which may be due to
biomolecules bounded to the surface of the nanoparticles. The IR spectra absorption
-1 -1 -1 -1 -1
bands were observed at 3415 cm , 2920cm , 2490cm , 1660cm , 1385cm which are
characteristics of the following stretching vibrations, –OH, C–H, C=O,
C–Nrespectively. The extracts and the synthesized AgNps were tested against two
gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) and two gram
negative (Helictobacter Pylori and Clostridium) bacteria. The particles exhibited
some level of inhibition against the microorganisms. Assessment of 2, 2 diphenyl-1-
1hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay showed that the extracts of Gongronema
latifoliumand the synthesized AgNps possess antioxidant properties.
Keywords: Nanoparticles, Gongronema latifolium, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant,
Microorganisms.
96
1.0 Introduction
[1]
Nanopaticles are materials with size range of 1nm to 100 nm . They possess
promising properties that are dependent on size, morphology and behavior.
Nanoparticles have very wide of applications indifferent fields such as medical,
[2]
engineering, agriculture, telecommunication just to mention but a few . One of the
most important properties that make them very useful is their higher surface to
volume ratio. That is, as the particles decrease in size, the surface area is exposed
thereby making them more accessible and reactive. This explains why they exhibit
high catalytic and antimicrobial activities as observed in silver nanoparticles. The
increase in their specific surface area brings about a corresponding increase in their
[2], [3]
biological effectiveness due to the increase in surface energy . There are different
synthetic approaches used to produce nanoparticles, they include chemical, physical
[3]
and biological . While the chemical method appears to be one of the shortest
methods, it is usually not eco-friendly because it requires the use of very toxic
chemicals which are harmful to the environment when they are released. The
physical method on the other hand yielded particles with different sizes, chemical
compositions and distribution as well as formation of aggregates. The biological
method is the only environmental friendly protocol because it does not require the
[4], [5]
use of toxic chemicals and does not produce harmful byproducts . Another
advantage is, the presence of active biomolecules enhances the production of the
nanoparticles through bio-reduction. This method is known as green synthesis of
[5] [6]
nanoparticles and has proven to be better than other methods . Much interest has
been shifted to this area of research in nanoscience since it allows better control of
shape and size of nanoparticles that can be used for different nanotechnological
applications. Different environmental friendly materials like plant extracts, bacteria,
[6]
fungi and enzymes have been employed in the synthesis of nanoparticles that are
eco-friendly, with very high compatibility for industrial, pharmaceutical, medical
[7]
and other applications .
Recently, the use of medicinal plants has gained more attention for the synthesis of
nanoparticles due their availability and many of them have been successfully utilized
to produce nanoparticles that possess very promising medicinal value. Different
parts of medicinal plants such as the leaves, stems, roots, fruits, flowers, and seed
[8]
have been used and reported .
Nigeria is naturally endowed with so many medicinal plants used for treating
different diseases and since they are rich with biochemical compounds, they can be
[9]
used for the synthesis of nanoparticles . Although many plants have been used for
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
Gongronema Latifolium Aqueous
Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, no research work has been reported for the
[10]
synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Gongronema latifoliumleaf extracts .
Gongronema latifolium is an edible and medicinal plant mostly found in the rain
forest zones of Nigeria and other tropical African countries. It has a wide range of
nutritional and ethno-medical uses in different tropical African communities. It is a
member of the Asclepiadaceaefamily.
The plant produces white latex and yellow flowers and can be propagated by seed or
[11]
stem cuttings .
[12]
Imo andUhegbu (2015) reported that Gongronema latifolium contains
different types of alkaloids, flavonoids, total phenolic compounds, lignan, terpenes,
sterol, allicin, hydroxycinnamic acids, saponins and carotinoids. The author also
reported that some of the phytochemicals detected inhigh quantities when 100g of
Gongronema latifolium (benth) leaf extracts was analyzed included cinchonidine,
oxoassoanine, lupanine and buphanidrine (alkaloids), hyperoside, quercetin,
kaemferol (Flavonoids), tannic acid, ferulic vanillic (total phenolic compound),
retusin and galgravin (lignan), nerol (geraniol) and betapinene (terpenes), 5-
avenasterol, stigmasterol (sterol), chlorogenic acid, caffeicacid. (hydroxycinnamic
acids), saponine and sapogenin (saponin) and beta-crytoxanthin, xanthophylls
(carotenoid). The result showed that Gongronema latifolium (Benth) leavespossess
an appreciable quantity of phytochemicals which is responsible for reduction of
[12]
metallic salts to their nano-metallic particles .
Gongronema latifolium leavesare used asvegetables for the preparation of soups.
They have a bitter-sweet flavor. The leaves arealso sometimes used to spice locally
brewedbeer. According to Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA),the soft
[10], [11], [12]
stem is used as chewing stickin Sierra Leone .
In this present report, the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, using the aqueous
leafextracts of Gongronema latifolium is reported for the first time. The green
synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using Ultraviolet-Visible (UV),
Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and
Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses. In addition to the above, the synthesized
nanoparticles were screened for antibacterial and anti-oxidant activity against
different pathogenic microbes and scavengers respectively.
2.0 Methods
2.1.0Materials
Silver nitrate was purchased from Aldrich, and was used without further
purification. Deionized water was used throughout the process and filtration was
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
Gongronema Latifolium Aqueous
Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
done with What man No.1 filter paper. All the glass wares washed and dried in hot
air oven before use.
2.1.1G. latifolium
The leaves were obtained from Ogbete main market Enugu in Enugu state,Nigeria
and were identified as Gongronema latifolium in Department of Chemical Sciences
of Godfrey Okoye University, Thinkers Corners Enugu.The collected leaves were
washed with running tap water and twice with distilled water before use. The leaves
were then air dried at room temperature for two weeks in order to remove all the
moisture present. The dried leaves were thereafter ground using a mechanical grinder
to fine powder and stored for further analysis. Figure 1belowshows the picture of
Gongronema latifolium plant.
Figure 1: A picture of Gongronema latifolium plant.
2.1.2 Plant leaves extract preparation
10.00 gof the finepowderedwas mixed with distilled water (200 ml) and boiled at
o
100 C for 25 minutes. The mixturewas filtered via a filter paper and the filtrate was
centrifuged and then filtered the second time through a Whatman No.1 filter. The
extract (filtrate) obtained was thereafter transferred into a reagent bottle and stored in
a refrigerator to be used for the nanoparticles synthesis.
2.1.3 Synthesis of silver nanoparticles
100 ml (1 mmol) aqueous solution of silver nitrate, AgNO (aq) was poured into a
3
conical flask and 20 ml of the extract obtained above was added drop-wise with the
o
help of a micropipettewhile heating and continuous stirring at 60 C for 20 minutes.
The solution changed from acolorless to a brownish solution which confirms the
formation of colloid silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The solution was then centrifuged
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
Gongronema Latifolium Aqueous
Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
at 9000rpm for 20 minutes and the supernatant wascollected. The solvent was
removed by evaporation via a water bath and concentrated to obtain a semi solid
product which is the silver nanoparticles. The silver nanoparticles werestored for
[13]
further analysis .
2.1.4 Characterization
The synth esize d silv er nanopart icles were conf irmed via UV-
visiblespectrophotometer (UV-1800 Shimadzu double beam). The infrared
measurements were used to determine the presence of the biomolecules in the extract
and the AgNPs via Jasco 5300-Fourier Transform Infrared spectrophotometermodel.
The clear particles mean size and morphology of the AgNPs was characterized by
SEM and EDX analyses.
2.1.5 Antibacterial activity of Gongronema latifoliumleavessynthesized AgNPs
The synthesized AgNPs fromG. Latifolium leaf extracts were tested for their
antibacterial activity against two gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and
Escherichia coli) and two gram negative (Helictobacter Pylori and Clostridium)
[18]
bacteria by agar well diffusion method . Into each agar well, 0.5 ml sample
prepared by dissolving 0.5mg of nanoparticles in 1 ml of distilled water was
dispensed. In a separate well, distilled water was also dispensed to serve as control.
The plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 hrs. After incubation, the diameter of
thezone of inhibition for each well was measured in millimeters (mm). The assay was
done in triplicates for each sample and bacterial species.
2.1.6Antioxidant assay
The antioxidant property of the synthesized silver nanoparticles obtained
fromGongronema latifollium leaf extractwas determined via 2, 2-diphenyl-1, 1-
[19]
hydrazyl (DPPH) assay according Thaipong et al 2010 A 0.8mmol/L stock solution
of DPPH was prepared and1.0 mlof differentconcentrations(0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0
mg/mL) of the synthesized AgNPs and the extract were added to four test tubes
labeled a, b, c and d. respectively.A volume of 1.0ml of the prepared DPPH was
added to each of the test tubes containing the samples. The mixtures were shock
vigorously and allow to stand in a dark room for 30mins at room temperature. After
30mins the absorbance was taken at 517nm against methanol control while ascorbic
acid served as the standard. Percentage DPPH radical scavenging activity was
[20]
calculated using the formula .
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
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Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
3.0 Resultsand Discussion
3.1.0 UV-vis analysis
The addition of G. latifollium leaf extracts to aqueous solution of silver nitrate,
AgNO (aq) brought about a color change in the resultant solution from yellowish-
3
brownto reddish-brown and finally to brown which indicated the formation of silver
nanoparticles, AgNps. The UV-vis absorption spectrum of the synthesized AgNPs is
shown in Figure 2 below.The only peak observed at 455 nm is a characteristic
absorption band for silver and since no other peak was shown in the spectrum, it
confirms that only the synthesized silver nanoparticles are present.
Fig 2: UV-Vis absorption spectrum of the synthesized AgNPs
3.1.2 Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) Analysis
The FTIR spectrum of the synthesized silver nanoparticles, AgNPsof G.
-1
latifolliumleaf extractsrevealed a very strong absorption bandat 3415cm which is -
OH stretching vibration for either alcohols or phenoliccompounds. The absorption
-1 -1
peak at 2920cm is attributedto CH stretching while absorption peak at 1660 cm
-1
assigned to a carbonyl (C=O) stretchas well as 1385 cm for C-Nstretch (Figure 3).
Figure 3: FTIR spectrum ofsynthesized silver nanoparticles, AgNPs from G. latifolliumleaf
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
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Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
extracts.
3.1.3 Scanning electron microscope (SEM) Analysis
The SEM image of the synthesized silver nanoparticles AgNPs is shown in figure 4.
From the SEM result, the morphology of the particles revealed they are spherical
shapes with different sizes in the range 40-50 nm. This may be attributed to the
presences of different types of capping agents in the extracts. The above claimis
supported by the shifts and difference absorption peaks observed in the FTIR
analysis.
Fig 4:SEM imageof the synthesized silver nanoparticles obtained from G. latifollium
leaf extracts.
3.1.4 Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis
EDX analysis of the synthesized silver nanoparticles in Figure 5below showed the
presence of elemental metal signals. The EDX profile showed a strong silver signal
of 4.32keV (70%) in addition to with other weaker signals which may have
originated from the biomolecules boundto the surface of the nanoparticles.
Fig 5: EDX analysis of the synthesized silver nanoparticles obtained from G. latifollium leaf
extracts.
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
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Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
3.1.5 Antibacterial activity
The synthesized silver nanoparticles, Ag NPs of G. latifolium leaf extracts showed
highest inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus and clostridium, a moderate
inhibition against E.coli and least inhibition against Helictobacter pylori. Both
Ciproflox and Chloramphinicol were used as standard drug for gram positive and
gram negative organisms respectively. From the results shown in Table 1,the
synthesized silver nanoparticles Ag NPs displayed zones of inhibition for all the
tested microorganisms while the standard drugs were selective in activity.
Table 1: Antimicrobial activity of synthesized nanoparticle on selected gram
positive and negative organisms, compared to standard drugs
The above observations agreed with the claim that silver nanoparticles, AgNps have
very good antimicrobial activity against various pathogenic organisms as has been
[22][23]
reported by different authors .The antibacterial activityof AgNPs obtained
fromG. latifoliumleaf extracts against both gram-positive and gram-negative
bacteria as observed in Table 1 above is in agreement with the findings of previous
[24]
studies carried out with other plant materials .The graphical representation of the
antimicrobial activity of the synthesized silver nanoparticles and standard drugs is
shown in Figure 6.
Fig 6: Graphical representation of the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized silver
nanoparticle and the standard drugs, ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol.
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
Gongronema Latifolium Aqueous
Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
3.1.6 Antioxidant assay
DPPH scavenging property of the synthesized AgNPs of G. latifolium
The antioxidant scavenging property of the synthesized silver nanoparticleswere
[25]
determined by 2, 2-diphenyl-1,1-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay . As shown in Table 2, the
DPPH scavenging activity increased with increasein the concentration of silver
nanoparticles comparable to that of Ascorbic acid used as standard antioxidant. This
result showed that the AgNPs of G. latifolium possess antioxidant properties.
Table 2: Comparison of the antioxidant effect of synthesized nanoparticles with standard
Results are expressed as mean ± S.E.M (S.E.M = Standard Error of the Mean)
The percentage inhibition of DPPH radical scavenging property of AgNPs and that of
ascorbic acid as a standard antioxidant is shown in Table 3 and a chart of the same
results is shown in Figure 7.
Table 3: Percentage inhibition of DPPH radical scavenging activity of
synthesized AgNps of Gongronema latifollium compared with Ascorbic acid
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
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Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Figure 7: A chart showing the percentage ofradical scavenging properties of
AgNPs and ascorbic acid
4.0 Conclusion
Many methods of synthesis of nanoparticles via physical and chemical
approacheshave limitations such as the generation of by-products which are not
environmental friendly, difficult to sustain and not cost-effective. Recently, the
greensynthetic approaches which are easy, cost-effective, eco-friendly, well-
controlled are encouraged. The synthesized silver nanoparticles AgNPs with particle
size of 40-50 nm were successfully synthesized using the leaf extracts of G.
latifollium. The nanoparticles were characterized via UV, IR, SEM and EDX
spectroscopic analytical techniques. The nanoparticles were found to exhibit
antibacterialactivity against S. aureusand E. coli, Clostridium and H. pylori. In
addition to the above the particles also exhibited promising antioxidant
activities.The biological method used for the synthesis of the silver nanoparticles
AgNPs using Gongronema latifolliumleaf extracts wasvery fast, cost effective and
eco-friendly.
Acknowledgements: The authors sincerely thank the Vice Chancellor of
GodfreyOkoye University, Ugwuomu-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria, Rev.Prof. Christian
Anieke, for providing a comfortableenvironment for academic work and research.
Our gratitude also goes to the technical (Laboratory) staff of Department of
Chemical Sciences of Godfrey Okoye University, for their assistance.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the
publication of this paper.
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Green Synthesis Of Silver Nanoparticlesusing
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Leaves Extract And Their Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Properties
BIOFILM FORMING ABILITY AND THE PRESENCE OF IcaD GENE IN
BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM BATHING TOWELS OF STUDENTS OF A
PRIVATE TERTIARY INSTITUTION
By
a b b a h
Olisaka, F.N , Nkwocha, P. N , Eze, C and Okoli, C
a
Sciences. Godfrey Okoye University, P. M.B 01014, Thinkers Corner Enugu, Nigeria.
frances@gouni-edu.ng
b
Faculty of Sciences , Department of Biological Sciences. Benson Idahosa University
Cafeteria, Okha Campus, Benin City,
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies , Department of Biological
Abstract:
Background:
A towel is an absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or cleaning a body or wiping
surface. The skin itself provides a large area for microbial colonization and hence the
skin ecosystem is not uniform.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to determine the presence and nature of biofilm forming
bacteria and the presence of icaD genes found on bathing towels.
;
Methods:
A total of 20 bathroom towels samples were used following the standard microbiological
techniques. Colonv morphology, Gram's staining and biochemical tests were used for
isolation and identification of bacteria. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed
by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and the Congo Red Agar was used for the
screening of biofilm production. Finally, the detection of icaD gene was determined
by PCR.
Results:
Nineteen(19) out 20 isolates were identified tentatively as Staphylococcus
spp. and the other was identified as E. coll All the isolates produced biofilm. In particular,
isolates 3, 5, 12, and 13 produced the most biofilm (strong). On the other isolates 15, 16,
18, 19 were moderate biofilm formers. Isolates 1,2,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,14, 17,20 were weak
producers of biofilm.
Conclusions:
The findings from this study indicated that there is a high level of bacterial contamination
on bathroom towels. This is of tremendous clinical significance, because of its potential
to cause epidemics in school hostels. Moreover, the antibiotic susceptibility of isolates
showed resistance to at least three antibiotics. Furthermore, it indicated a similar scenario
in other places.
Keyword: Towels, Bacteria, Biofilm, icaD, Staphylococcus spp.
109
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
extract bacteria from the towels with the use of
sterile cotton swabs. Once the sample was
obtained, the swab was placed in a sterile 15ml
centrifuge tube and placed in a 4°C refrigerator
until further analysis. After 24 hours, each
sample was streaked onto Nutrient agar,
MacConkey agar, Mannitol salt agar and
Membrane faecal coliform agar plates. Four-
q u a d r a n t s t r e a k p l a t e t e c h n i q u e
wasperformed. All the plates were incubated
for 24 hours at 37°C. After the overnight
incubation, the plates were observed for
colony characteristics. Isolated colonies
were then sub-cultured onto fresh nutrient
agar. Single isolated colonies from nutrient
agar plates were subjected to Gram staining,
and Standard Biochemical tests to identify
the organism.
2.2 Phenotypic Characterization of Biofilm
Producers
Bacteria Isolates were incubated on a Congo
red medium for 24-48hours at 37°e.
Indication of black colonies represented
positive results. The weak producers
indicated tremains pink and then an
intermediate result is indicated with the
presence of occasional darkening at the
center of the colonies present with absence of
dry colonial crystalline morphology
(Cappuccino & Sherman, 2005). Catalase
test was done to determine the ability of the
bacteria to degrade hydrogen peroxide by
producing the enzyme catalase. An
immediate bubble formation indicated a
positive result and no bubble formation
indi cated catalase negative result
(Cappuccino &Sherman, 2005).
2.3 Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing
In this research work the antibiotic
susceptibility testing of the organisms were
performed by Kirby-3auer disc diffusion
method.
2.4 Dna Extraction Using Zr
Fungal/Bacterial Dna Miniprep
(Manufactured By Zymo
Research Cat Number: D6005)
uld 2mLs of bacterial cells broth to to a ZR
lashingTM Lysis Tube. Add 750ul Lysis
Solution) the tube. Secure in a bead fitted
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Article History
1. BACKGROUND
A towel is an absorbent fabric or paper used for
drying or cleaning a body or wiping surface. It
absorbs moisture through direct contact often
either by using a rubbing or blotting motion.
Microbes strive in warm and moist
environment that is full of oxygen under
optimum temperature of (25°c-37'c) and PH of
( 5-9 ) (Liam and Hudson 2004).
The skin itself provides a large area for
microbial colonization and hence the skin
ecosystem is not uniform. The most common
microorganisms found on the skin as its
normal flora include staphylococcus
epidermis (which is found mostly in the
regions of the upper body), staphylococcus
hominis (found on the arms and legs ) and
micrococci yellow pigmented species, some
others include gram positive Bacilli belonging
to a group of bacteria known as Coryneform
which include Corynebacterium and
Propionibacterium. Most organisms have the
ability to spread on towels and are then
infectious. Some include; Escherichia coll
(Arc h chem i cal 20 12), S almone lla
typhimiiruim, Staphylococcus aureus.
B a c i l l u s a u r e u s ( S p i c e r 1 9 5 9 ) ,
Campylobacter (Liam and Hudson 2004).
A biofilm may be defined as a microbe-
derived sessile community featured under
organisms that are attached to a substratum,
interface or each other embedded in matrix of
extracellular polymeric substance and exhibit
an altered phenotype with respect to growth,
gene expression and protein production.
The biofilm infection life cycle generally
follows the same steps of attachment (which
has to do with the interaction between bacteria
and the implant) accumulation( which involes
interactions between bacterial cells)
maturation (formation of viable 3D structure)
and dispersion/detachment (release from the
biofilm).
2. METHODS
2.1 Collection of samples and Isolation of
Bacteria
A total of 20 bathroom towels were swabbed to
110
Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
with 2 ml tube-older assembly and process
at maximum speed for >5 minutes.
Centrifuge the ZR BashingBeadTM ysis
Tube in a microcentirifuge at > 10,000 x g
for minute. Transfer up to 400 ul supernatant
to a ymo-SpinTM IV Spin Filter (orange
top) in a oliection Tube and centrifuge at
7.000 x g for 1 inute. Add 1,200 ul of
Fungal/Bacterial DNA inding Buffer to the
filterate in the Collection jbe from Step 4.
Transfer 800 ul of the mixture )in Step 5 to a
Zymo-SpinTM HC Column in a Election
Tube and centrifuge at 10,000 x g for 1 inute.
Discard the flow through from the
Election Tube and repeat Step 6. Add 200 ul
NlA Pre-Wash Buffer to the Zymo-Spin TM
IIC
Column in new Collection Tube and
centrifuge at 10,000 x g for 1 minute. Add 500
ul Fungal/Bacterial DNA Wash Buffer to the
Zymo-SpinTM IIC Column and centrifuge at
10,000 x g for 1 minute. Transfer the Zymo-
SpinTM IIC Column to a clean 1.5 ml
microcentrifuge tube and add lOOul (35 ul
minimum) DNA Elution Buffer directly to the
column matrix. Centrifuge at 10,000 x g for 30
seconds to elute the DNA.
2.5 Electrophoresis for DNA and PCR
Measure 1 g of agarose ( for DNA); 2g of
agarose for PCR. Mix agarose powder with
100 mL IxTAE in a microwavable flask.
Microwave for 1-3 min until the agarose is
completely dissolved (but do not over boil the
solution, as some of the buffer will evaporate
and thus alter the final percentage of agarose in
the gel. Let agarose solution cool down to
about 50 °C (about when you can comfortably
keep your hand on the flask), about 5 mins.
Add 10µL EZ vision DNA stain. EZ vision
binds to the DNA and allows you to visualize
the DNA under ultraviolet (UV) light. Pour the
agarose into a gel tray with the well comb in
place. Place newly poured gel at 4 °C for 10-15
mins OR let sit at room temperature for 20-30
mins, until it has completely solidified.
2.6 Loading Samples and Running an
Agarose Gel
Add loading buffer to each of your DNA
samples or PCR products. Once solidified,
place the agarose gel into the gel box
(eleetrophoresis unit). Fill gel box with IxTAE
(or TBE) until the gel is covered. Carefully
load a molecular weight ladder into the first
lane of the gel. Carefully load your samples
into the additional wells of the gel. Run the gel
at 80-150 V for about 1-1.5 hours. Turn OFF
power, disconnect the electrodes from the
power source, and then carefully remove the
gel from the gel box.
Visualize DNA fragments or PCR product
under UV transilluminator.
2.7 PCR Mix Components
The PCR mix is made up of 12.5µL of Taq 2X
Master Mix from New England Biolabs
(M0270); 1 µL each of
1 0µM forward and reverse primer; 2µL of
DNA template and then made up with 8,5µL
Nuclease free water. Initial denaturation at
94'C for 5mins, followed by 36 cycles of
a
denaturation at 94 C for 30sec, annealing at
55°C for 30secs and elongation at 72°C for
45sec. Followed by a final elongation step at
72°C for 7 minutes and hold temperature at 10
°C forever.
3. RESULTS
Out of the 20 presumptive isolates, nineteen
(100%) were identified tentatively as
Staphylococcits spp. The isolates were all
resistant to cefiazidime (100%), cefuroxime
(100%), gentamycin (20%), ceftriaxone
(100%), erythromycin (90%), cloxacillin
(100%), ofloxacin (10%) and augmentm
(100%). A moderately high susceptible
activity was observed against gentamiein
(30%) and augmentin (35%). Moderate
sensitivity activity was observed in
gentamicin (50%), erythromycin (10%),
while a high level of susceptibility was
observed in ofloxacin (55%).
All the isolates (1-20) produced biofilm. In
particular, isolates 3, 5, 12, and 13 produced
the most biofilm (strong). On the other isolates
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
15, 16, 18, 19 were moderate biofilm formers. Isolates 1,2,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,14, 17, 20 were weak
producers of biofilm. There is a significant difference between the three groups (p < 0.05) as shown
in appendix 11, The gDNA extracted from the isolates is presented in figure 1 while Figure 2
showed icaD genes in isolates. The figure suggests absence of these genes in 3 and 4.
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
Fig 1: Biofilm production by S. aureus; Strong producer and on Congo Red Agar
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Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Figure 2: icaD genes in isolates, absent in 3 and 4
4. DISCUSSION
The result obtained from this study was out of
20 samples after conducting the biochemical
tests, 19 of the isolates were confirmed
presumptively as Staphylococcus' spp. and 1
was identified as E. coli. Therefore, in this
study, among the isolates, the most
predominant bacteria were Staphylococcus
spp. This is anticipated as it is a major
component of the normal flora of the human
skin which the bathroom towel is used for. The
findings of other researchers (Nworie et al.,
2012; Ducel et al, 2002; Brooks et al., 2007), is
in accordance with this finding.
The result of this study is also consistent with
Jalalpoor et ah, (2009) who reported that
Staphylococcus species (54.7%) was the most
frequent bacteria isolated in bathroom towels
and particularly bathroom environment. In
contrast, the result of this study did not agree
with the work of Orji et al, (2005) which
showed that Staphylococcus aureus was the
least isolated bacteria.
Gram-positive bacteria are found more in the
bathroom towels than Gram negative one. This
can become dangerous as Gram positive
bacteria are causing more infections than ever
before especially in surgical patients, who are
increasingly aged, ill and debilitated (Barie,
1998).
Isolation of more Gram positive bacteria than
Gram negative can be explained, as they are
members of the body flora of both
asymptomatic carriers and sick persons. These
organisms can be spread by the hand, expelled
from the respiratory tract or transmitted by
animate or inanimate objects (Chikere el a!.,
2008). Their main source(s) of colonization on
the bathroom towel might likely be nasal
113
Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
carriage by individuals (Graham el al., 2006),
likely facilitated by hand-to-mouth or hand-
to-nose contact while using these fabrics
(ASM, 2005). Isolation of Staphylococcus
aureus from almost all the bathroom towels
in d i c a t es t h e ir u b i qu i t o u s nat u r e.
Additionally, they can be sources of infection
to humans as previously noted (Hartmann el
al., 2004; Inweregbu e1 a!., 2005; Ikeh and
Isamade, 2011).
From the findings in this study, it was
observed that most of the isolates obtained
were resistant to most commonly used
antibiotics. These antibiotics are ceftazidime
(100%), cefuroxime (100%), gentamycin
(20%), ceftriaxone (100%), erythromycin
(90%), cloxacillin (100%),ofloxacin (10%)
and augmentin (100%). The resistance to
these antibiotics which is in accord with the
research earned out by Adewoyin el
al.,(2013), who reported that antibiotic
resistant microorganism contaminates fabric
surfaces such as bathroom towels. Moreover,
reported that most of the isolates obtained in
their study were resistant to commonly used
antibiotics such as ceftazidime, gentamycin,
augmentin and erythromycin.
The biofilm producing ability of the
isolates was also studied using the CRA
plate test method (Handke el al., 2004;
Oliveira el al, 2006). All the isolates (1-20)
produced biofilm. In particular, isolates 3,
5, 12, and 13 produced the most biofilm
(strong). On the other isolates 15, 16, 18.
19 were moderate biofilm formers.
Isolates 1,2,4,6,7,8.9,10,11,14, 17, 20
were weak producers of biofilm. There is a
significant difference between the three
groups (p < 0.05). This is consistent with
the findings by Stewart and Costerton,
(2001) and Ito el al., (2009) who
documented that the structure of biofilm in
Slaphylococcus spp including the
robustness and its components show
association with antibiotic resistance.
Also, Arciola el al., (2015) reported that
intercellular adhesion (ica) genes encode
PIAs which in turn regulate the biofilm
formation since icaA. and icaD genes are
associated with biofilm formation. Biofilm
production was shown by isolates on Congo
Red Agar and presence oficaD gene.
CONCLUSION
Recently, infections from bathroom fabrics
particularly towels are rising at an alarming rate.
The causes of these infections can be connected to
increased microbial load of bathroom fabric
including bathroom towels. The findings from this
study indicate that there is a high level of bacterial
contamination on bathroom towels. This is of
tremendous clinical significance, because of its
potential to cause epidemics in school hostels.
Moreover, the antibiotic susceptibility of isolates
showed resistance to at least three antibiotics.
Furthermore, it indicated a similar scenario in other
places. The rise of antibiotic resistance in microbes,
especially pathogenic organisms can lead to lethal
outcomes. Therefore, it should be tackled with high
importance. However, this problem is not limited to
this area of study alone. Thus, this will require
combined effort of governmental, private
organizations and individuals to educate the
population on personal and environmental
hygiene.
REFERENCES
Alice, N. and Matthew, P. (2000). Survival of
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38(2), 724-726.
Aminu M., Usman S. H. and Usman M. A.
(2014). Characterization and determination of
antihjotic susceptibility pattern of bacteria
.isolated from some fomites in a teaching
hospital in northern Nigeria. Afri J Microbiol
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Barker, T. and Jones, M. (2005). Antibiotic-
resistant Gram-positive cocci: implications
for surgical practice. Wld. J. Surg. 22(2):118-126.
Boone, S.A., Gerba, C.P. (2007). Significance
of fomites in the spread of respiratory and
enteric viral disease. Applied and
Environmental Microbiology, 73: 1687-
1696.
Brunsima, N., J.M. Hutchinson, A.E. van den
Bogaard, H. Giamarellou, J. Degener and
E.E. Stobberingh. (2003). Influence of
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
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Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
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Biofilm forming ability and the presence of icaD Gene in Bacteria
Isolated From Bathing Towels of Students of a Private Tertiary Institution
he name of the administrator of the Faculty is Prof. Dr. Chidi
Uhuegbu, a Professor of Physics. He studied at University of
T
Nigeria, Nsukka where he got his B.Sc., M.Sc., PGDE and Ph.D.
at Covenant University Ota, Specialising on Solid State and Solar Energy
Physics.
As The Dean, He Wants The Faculty To Have An Outlook Of The Following:
i. Decent dressing as stipulated by the GOUni
ii. Embellished behaviours
iii. Doing the right thing at the right time (Age quod ages).
iv. Being a good ambassador of the first Catholic University
owned by a Diocese in Africa
For the lecturers, the dean wants:
i) an exceptional good behaviours.
ii) the lecturers to be industrious
iii) the lecturers to be publishing and in reputable journals.
iv) The Dean advises the lecturers to employ modern methods of
teaching like hybrid approach (Modern Technological Approach).
v) He advises the lecturers to expel in their persons random musing,
trial & error, guess work and gossip in their workplace relationship
with their co-workers and students.
vi) Finally, he foresees building the future, best faculty of natural
science in Africa.
Culled by the Editor in Chief
FROM THE DEAN'S DESK:
THE FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCE &
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (FNSES)
The Nigerian Journal of Natural Sciences and Environmental Studies
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria
118
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